SMARTALECK PRODUTIONS

Master of Five

Prolouge <completed on 21/10/2001> <Revision#0)

Disclaimers:

                        Rumiko Takahashi and Shogukkan own Ranma and
the cast
members of Ranma 1/2. Rumiko Takahashi is one of the most brilliant
people to walk on the face of this earth. We the fans of the anime
world are forever indebted to her for giving us Ranma and co. Thank you
Rumiko Takahashi for bringing laughter back into our lives.

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

            "Boy, do you want to grow into a powerful martial artist,
the best in the world?" asked Genma. The technique that he had in mind
was dangerous to say the least but he was sure that Ranma was up to the
challenge. All that the boy needed was a little persuasion in the right
direction of course.

            Little Ranma nodded his head vigorously not realizing the
horror called Nekoken that he was going to be put through.

            Genma smiled. Of course, the boy accepted. He had never
been one to back down from a challenge. Genma liked the competitive
streak in his son. It would guarantee him a place amongst the legends
someday.

            "Well Ranma, I have got just the technique for you then. It
would make you invincible."

            Ranma nodded and his face lit up with joy. The boy was
ready to jump up into the air and hooray it appeared.

            "It is called the Nekoken and it is supposed to make you
faster and stronger..."

            Ranma stopped listening after the faster part. Why couldn't
his father understand that he wasn't dumb? He certainly needn't be told
more than once about the virtues of a martial arts technique.

            It took a while for Genma to finish his speech. Ranma stood
by him patiently and waited until he was finished acting as though that
he was paying close attention to what Genma was saying. He had learnt
when he was younger that he would be beaten if he were caught not
paying attention to his father.

            "So pops, why did we have to take all those kitties from
those people?" asked the boy innocently.

            Genma grimaced. Stealing was not a virtue that he liked
though he practiced it a lot. Thankfully, the grimace went unnoticed by
Ranma.

            "Boy, those cats are going to help you train in the
Nekoken."

            Ranma nodded though he could not understand how cute little
kitties could teach him the Nekoken.

            "Now boy, let's get you into these fish sausages and you
will be all set to learn the Nekoken."

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

            Ranma's world exploded into pain. Those cute kitties that
he had taken away from those people were tearing him apart literally
but still he refused to cry or scream. A man cannot scream you see.

            He concentrated behind the thick veil of pain that clouded
his mind and found his center. Those yoga lessons were very helpful it
seemed.

            The training if it could be called that had been going on
for the past week or was it a month. He could no longer remember. Heck,
he could not even discern whether it was daytime or nighttime. It all
seemed the same to him as nothing but the pain registered.

            There were numerous cuts all over his body and all of them
more then skin deep. He knew from his rudimentary knowledge of medicine
that he had learnt from his father and one of the sensei's that he had
studied under that the injured were not life threatening though he did
not know hoe long his luck in that department would last.

            All that mattered to him now was to master the technique.
His father had been proud of him when he had shown no fear of the pit
nor the cats the second and for that matter all those other times and
had shown _pity_ on him. He did not need pity. He was going to master
the technique even if it killed him. Though his little mind could not
put those thoughts into a meaningful sentence, they were there all the
same.

            He concentrated past the pain and that tingling began to
increase in his lower abdomen at the precise point where his hara was
located. However, unlike the last three times that he had felt the
tingling this time six other parts on his body seemed to tingle in
harmony with his hara.

            And then he saw the light, the light at the end of a very
long, horror filled tunnel called the Nekoken.

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

Author's rants:

            Well that's it for the prolouge. Hope you like it.

            Like I said before, I got the idea from Silverbreeze's
website though I have taken only the core plot and have made my own
alterations to it.

            C&C are most welcome.
SMARTALECK PRODUTIONS

Master of Five

Chapter 01 <completed on 10/24/2001> <Revision#1)

Disclaimers:

            Rumiko Takahashi and Shogukkan own Ranma and the cast 
members of Ranma 1/2. Rumiko Takahashi is one of the most brilliant 
people to walk on the face of this earth. We the fans of the anime 
world are forever indebted to her for giving us Ranma and co. Thank you 
Rumiko Takahashi for bringing laughter back into our lives.

            And Tenchi Muyo is a great series too. All the characters 
from Tenchi belong to whichever genius created it.

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

"Customers, you no want to do that! Very bad thing happen if you fall
into the spring," wailed the guide to the cursed springs to no avail.

            It seemed that honored customer and his son were hell bent
on practicing their art on the poles that adorned the spring. But the
guide reasoned that there was little chance they could fall into the
springs. Honored customer and his son were very skillful in the art of
unarmed combat. Nevertheless, he felt that he had to warn them of the
dangers associated with the valley of the cursed springs.

            Of course, the guide was human and as we all know, humans
are prone to making mistakes once in a while and in Genma's case that
law held true steadfastly.

            Bham!

            Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes
Martial Arts ducked under a mid-air spin kick meant for his face and
pummeled his father's kidney with a right hand combo. Genma was no God
and as such could not override the laws of physics. He was sent flying
into one of the many springs that adorned the valley.

            Ranma landed on his toes on one of the bamboo stalks with a
happy smirk on his face. He adopted a varitation of the crane stance
and stood in wait for his father. Before the smirk was a second old, a
furry beast, a member of the Panda species emerged from the spring into
which Genma had been so unceremoniously dumped and leapt towards him.

            "What the..." was all Ranma managed before the beast was
upon him. Totally unprepared for the assault, Ranma's defences were
easily overwhelmed and he was sent hurtling into one of the springs
nearby.

            "Growf! Mrowf!" [That ought to teach you, boy, to let down
your defences... Hey, what is wrong with my hands?]

            Genma did a more thorough examination of his body and
horror of what had happened filtered through that two-foot wide grass
covered path that was his brain's information highway.

            Ranma emerged from the spring and felt something heavy and
soft all at once on his chest. He looked down and saw two
protrubrances. With growing horror, he opened his red Chinese shirt and
saw his nightmares come true - he had a pair of breasts. The boy
examined himself not once but thrice and found to his horror that his
plumbing was gone as well.

            His mind registered the guide appologizing about something
before it shutdown. He had a subconscious fear of losing his manhood,
you see.

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

            "Young sir no heed warning and fall into the spring the
drowned girl. Very sad tale of girl who drowned in the spring five
hundred and thousand years ago. Now, everytime customer get hit with
cold water his body changes into a girl. Very cursed spring!" finished
the guide.

            Ranma stopped listening after the girl part. In stead he
focused on the bane of his existence, the one called Genma Saotome.

            Genma shrunk into himself and shivered. The boy was
frightening when he was angry. "Look boy..." he tried, unsuccessfully
to shift the blame on someone or something but the boy was not
listening and his mind was not working. Before Genma could come up with
a suitable excuse the boy descended upon him.

            Ranma's aura flared. It was almost half as powerul as the
master at his worst, which was quite an achievement for one, one-
twentieth of the master's age.

            "Pops! It's all your fault," screamed Ranma and he begun
the rather tasteless beating up of one Genma Saotome. Gone were the
technique and skill that made him the heir to the Anything Goes School
of Martial arts, this was just plain maulling.

            Twenty minutes of gratuituous violence later.

            "Mommy!" squeaked Genma. *The horror! The horror!*

            The guide winced in sympathy. Customer's son was a mean
SOB.

            Soon the two travelling martial artists were ready to leave
the valley, their differences forgotten. Sensing a quick buck or two,
the guide informed them of the Joketsuzoku Amazons who _might_ be able
to help them with their curses and the two agreed. There was no cure
and he could have just told them so but this way he could earn
something to help feed his family with. All is fair in love and war,
they say.

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

            A few hours later the trio entered the Amazon village. The
whole village seemed to be deserted. The guide, recognizing the banners
that fluttered here and there in the village, led them to the village
square where a tournament was being held.

            There was food on the side and two girls, one wielding
maces and the other wielding swords were fighting on a log. It looked
like the battle was a test of skill and strength at first sight though
there probably more hanging on the outcome of the battle for the girls.

            The guide ranted on about the tournament but Ranma and
Genma did not hear him. They had not learned their lessons unlike the
Amazons who even have a proverb that says 'Just like one sows in the
fields when it is time one must also hear when the guide of the valley
of the springs of sorrow when he speaks.' Genma for his part had laid
eyes upon the prize and was devouring it without a thought about the
consequences.

            Ranma, however, sensed someone eying him and turned towards
that person. It was an old woman, an extremely old woman. The hag
looked at him for a long minute and he waved his hands at her, smiling
in a show of friendliness. The old woman returned the smile and then
bounded off on her staff to God knew where.

            Just then the girl with the mace knocked the other Amazon
from the log and turned victoriously towards the vilagers gathered to
see the fight. As luck would have it, Genma was at that second pushing
a rather large piece of venison into his body. The girl noticed him and
jumped off the log. She levelled her mace at the bald martial artist
and said something in Chinese.

            The guide translated, adding his own comments for special
effect. "Oh no sir! Why you eat food meant for village champion? Now
she very angry! She challenge you to a fight."

            As soon as he heard those words, Genma's eyes darted around
like a fish out of water. Finally, he levelled his gaze at Ranma.

            "Boy, you have to fight her," he said, mentally
congratulating himself on his quick thinking.

            "Why old man? You ate her prize, so you should be the one
doing the fighting."

            Genma narrowed his eyes. "Oh! The shame of it all. My son
is a coward! How hurt would his mother be to learn so?"

            Ranma stiffened when he heard the words. *The nerve of him
using mother's memory so callously.* "Fine. I will fight your stupid
fight," he snarled and jumped onto the log.

            In the sidelines, Cologne smirked. Now she would know how
good that boy was. Quickly, she called Shampoo to her side.

            <Great grandmother, why you call me from fight?" asked the
purple-haired Amazon.

            <Xian Pu, I want you to go all out in this fight.> It was
an order and not a request.

            Shampoo nodded. She would do what her grangmother wanted
her to. *Too bad the stranger will not live through the day.*

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

            The two opponents squared off against each other.

            The entire village was silent and the air in the village
seemed to be charged with electricity.

            Shampoo had abandoned her practice maces for her battle
maces. The two maces looked the same though the battle maces weighed
fifty pounds less than the sparring maces. She slipped into one of the
orthodox stances that she had learnt when she was quite little and
waited for the boy to assume one.

            The boy stood with a bored look on his face. She was not
fooled by it. The slight tensing of his muscles was evident. He was
ready for battle.

            Cologne watched from the sidelines. The boy was a chi
reactor, it seemed. She had not felt such vibrant chi even when she had
faced off against the Musk emperor nearly eighty years back. The Musk
emperor had lots more chi then the boy but his was not as vibrant. And
the way that he moved, it gave her the jitters. *No one could be so
skilled at such a young age.* She had thought. But she could not quite
get rid of that tingle she felt in her spine. *Something extraordinary
is about to happen.*

            Shampoo attacked first. It was weak and was meant to probe
her opponent's defences. The boy easily blocked the maces and slid out
of the way more often than not. She withdrew from the engagement and
eyed him warily. He was more skilled then she had first thought, it
seemed.

            Ranma smirked as she withdrew and commenced his own attack.
His, too, was a probe. He wanted to see how good this girl was. She
read the feigned upper cut and blocked his knees with her mace. The
metal made a ring as it came into contact with his knee. He withdrew
and smiled at her.

            "You are good," he stated. "But not good enough to beat
me."

            "Shampoo is Amazon warrior. She teach you to mock Amazons,"
she announced and leapt into her main attack.

            The blows fell fast and furious but Ranma evaded them all
easily not even bothering to block them. He flowed from one style to
another, merging them into fluid movements.

            On the sidelines, Cologne frowned. *So he is a student of
Anything Goes.* The grandmaster of that particular style had been a
thorn in her side and on the Amazons for as long as she could remember.
She shuddered thinking what that fool could do with a student like the
boy before her.

            Shampoo was annoyed. Not only was the boy dodging her
attacks, he still had that annoying smirk plastered on his face. She
would teach him to underestimate an Amazon.

            With a snarl, she abandoned her maces and closed the
distance between them. "Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

            Her hands blurred and so did Ranma's. However, he was not
able to stop all her attacks and quite a few hit home. He flew off the
log and hit the ground before skidding to a stop.

            Shampoo smirked and raised her hands into the air to
celebrate her victory.

            "On no, you don't!" said Ranma as he stood up and wiped
some blood off his mouth. "The fight has just begun miss."

            He leapt onto the log. Several of the sentries tried to
detain him but stopped on a non-verbal command from Cologne.

            Without a word, Ranma assumed his place. There was a
certain fire that had not been there before in his eyes. Shampoo
shivered involuntarily. It was as though he was a predator and she was
his prey.

            He leapt toward her and to the astonishment of all who
watched the fight shouted "Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken."

            A scant second later, Shampoo flew from the log,
unconscious due to the beating that she had received.

            The boy jumped off the log and was about to leave the
village with his father when the sentries stopped him.

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

            The elder's were gathered in the council hall and they were
arguing as usual. Cologne, looked around the room and turned her
thoughts inward. *Let them argue some. It will give me some time to
think.*

            Mascara and Zhu Li, her traditional rivals at the council
sat by her side: an event unparalled in the two centuries during which
they had been in the council. It seemed that they too had realized the
potential within the boy and were going to side with her on whatever
decision she made.

            She had interviewed the boy and his fool of a father and
their stories had matched. It seemed that they were telling the truth.
Yet, she could not comprehend it. No one trained in the Nekoken had
attained the mastery that the boy had. There were other facts that
puzzled her as well. The boy hated cats and yet did not fear them,
which was strange given the fact that he _had_ been trained in the
technique using the only method known to work consistently. *No matter,
the boy will be adopted into the tribe. Talent such as his comes once
in ten thousand years!*

            Having made up her mind on the course of action to be
taken, she adressed the council. As the matriarch, she had the power to
veto all others and she meant to use that power if things came to that.
She looked at Mascara and Zhu Li, her eyes speaking her innermost
thoughts and they nodded their heads in approval. She allowed the
smallest of grins to adorn her face and turned towards the council.

            She tapped the table with her cane and silenced the arguing
elders.

            <Ladies may I have your attention please!> she begun.
<Good, now, I think that all of you saw the boy fight and frankly I am
impressed by him. Very much so that I am sponsoring his adoption into
the village.>

            Several of the elders objected.

            Cologne smiled.

            <Fine then. We will have it your way. All of you in favor
of adopting one Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of martial
arts please raise your hands.>

            Twenty-two hands went up and eight did not.

            <It is decided then. Ranma Saotome is a member of the
Amazon tribe from hereforth.>

            Several of the elders started to raise their voices.

            Cologne interrupted.

            <This meeting is adjourned,> she said and rose up from her
seat with a large smile plastered all over her face.

            The thoughts in her, Mascara's and Zhu Li's mind were the
same. *A new heir!*

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

            "Let me get this straight... You are offering me membership
into the tribe?" asked Ranma.

            "Yes," answered the two foot Amazon.

            "Why should I accept it?" he asked.

            Cologne smiled. She had him now. There was no chance of him
refusing the offer that she was about to make. "I can give you three
reasons.

            "1. Our style of Wu Shu is the best in the world, better in
some ways to your Anything Goes. Moreover, we have a multitude of chi
and ki techniques that are quite powerful and takes a lot of skill to
master. I am sure that you would want to take up that challenge.

            "2. There is a law in our tribe. Only members of the tribe
can use our secret techniques. The punishment for anyone outside the
tribe who had somehow mastered our secret techniques is death. And you
have unwittingly mastered one of our own today."

            Ranma held up his right hand in a gesture to stop. "Are you
trying to threaten me? If you are then you have failed, I can assure
you of that. I think that you know better then anyone else in the
village that three are only three who are more powerful than I in the
village, yourself included. Do you want to risk the casualties you will
no doubt suffer if you chose to hunt me down?" he asked.

            Cologne shook her head. "Ranma, you have to look at things
from our point of view. We are a proud and strong people. Our tribe has
survived for three thousand years because of these very same laws and
we have every wish to survive another three thousand years. A wish,
which is put at risk by your knowledge of our technique.

            "Sure, we will lose fifty or so warriors before one of us
manage to strike you down but in the long run those fifty who had
sacrified their lives would end up saving our tribe. Can you imagine
the consequence of what has happened today? Do you know what would
happen if any of our enemies, and we have a lot of those, gained
mastery of that technique?

            "Fifty is a _small number_ to sacrifice for the greater
good of the tribe."

            Ranma nodded. He would do the same if he was in her
position. "And the third reason?"

            "3. There is another law, which says that a warrior must
marry the outsider male who defeated her in battle. The girl, you
defeated today is none other then my great granddaughter. I could order
her to evoke that law but I am not. I feel that this way things will be
better for all concerned.

            "I have stated my reasons. Do you want in or not?" she
asked.

            Ranma acted as though he was thinking deeply about his
decision. In fact he had made it as soon as she had offered him. It was
just that he wanted to know what he was getting himself into.

            "Alright, you have got a deal," he said at length.

            Cologne nodded. It looked like the boy used his head
instead of using it like an ornament that most of the people that she
had met, women included, did.

            "Welcome then son. Your training starts at sunrise
tomorrow. I want you to report here at three hours before sunrise, get
it?"

            Ranma nodded. She wanted to know how far he was in the art,
did she? Well, he would give her the greatest show on Earth.

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

            Ranma weaved in and out of the attacks of multiple
attackers that only he could see, every now and then kicking and
punching at his imaginary attackers with wanton ease. All the attacks,
blocks, slides and parries were executed perfectly. The whole affair,
lighted by the Moon had a surreal look to it.

            Cologne stood on her perch and watched the boy. His father
had done a good job teaching him the art. She doubted whether she
herself could have done a better job. The boy seemed to have realized
that for maximum effect only three could attack at a single time and
was thus using only three imaginary attackers in the kata, unlike some
of the blowhards in the village, who usually used about seven or eight
attackers.

            With a spin kick aimed at the chin, the boy decked his last
imaginary attacker and bowed to her as a student would to his sensei.

            Cologne noddded. "Well done Ranma. It seems that you have
the basics right. We can proceed to the advanced level then."

            "Advanced? Basics? What do you mean basics?" he growled.
What did the woman think she was? That was one of the toughest mid-air
kata's in the Anything Goes School that he had just performed.

            Cologne yawned. "Well that kata was pretty advanced but you
do want to be a warrior, a man amongst men, don't you?" she asked. She
had learnt of what drove the boy from his father the day before.
Apparently, it was his wish to satisfy his mother's last words that he
drove himself so hard.

            "Why you?" growled the boy, angered that she did not think
that he was a man amongst men. The curse had made a huge dent in his
ego, you see.

            "What is that sonny boy? I thought I heard chicken,"
cackled the old woman.

            The boy had to visibly restrain his anger. Real men did not
show their anger, you see.

            "Alright, what is this advanced level you speak of, old
ghoul."

            Cologne ignored the last remark. She was willing to
overlook the boy's minor shortcomings if he would let her teach him.
She quickly poked him on his shoulder.

            "Now try moving your right arm."

            Ranma tried but nothing happened. He closed his eyes and
entered a meditative trance and then tried again. Nothing happened.

            "What did you do?" he asked with wonder.

            "That sonny boy is what you call shaistsu. Want to learn
more?" she asked.

            Ranma nodded his head, vigorously.

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

            Ranma wandered into the village six hours afterwards, his
stomach making noises as repeated messages to the brain for sustenance
had went unnoticed. Even now, the pigtailed martial artist did not
acknowlege his hunger. His mind was occupied with more important things
such as pain.

            *The old Ghoul could sure hit some,* he mused to himself,
not that he was hurt or anything but it surprised him how much strength
she was able to manifest without using ki.

            *Leave it to the Amazons to come up with weird techniques,*
he thought as he massaged a particularly painful pressure point where
the matriarch had managed to tag him thrice.

            And she had said that the early morning Shiastu training
was the easiest of the exercises. He was to report to train for some
technique called Bakusai Tenketsu after he had breakfasted, she had
said.

            The pigtailed youth was so engrossed in his thoughts that
he nearly failed to sense the thirty od shuriken headed towards him. At
the last possible moment he jumped into the air and evaded them by the
narrowest of margins.

            Landing softly on his toes, he faced his attacker. It was a
boy in long robes with a really big spectacle on his face.

            "Yo wasup?" asked Ranma, taking a defensive stance. He was
new to the village and he did not want to get into fights. However, he
would be damned before he let that blind fool try to hit him again.

            The Chinese boy did a double take. "Since when could
buffalos speak?" he asked aloud to no one in particular.

            "..."

            A couple of children who had been following the blind boy
giggled.

            "What are you laughing at?" growled the boy, turning
towards them.

            "That is not a cow," one of the children snickered.

            "Nor is it a buffalo," corrected another.

            "..." The blind boy was at a loss of words. After a while
he managed. "I knew that of course. I was just kidding."

            The children burst out laughing and ran away.

            "Stupid kids," the blind boy turned towards Ranma. "Kind
sir, have you seen a boy with the pigtail walk by here?" He had earlier
mistaken the stranger to be a humongous wart hog.

            "Why? Are you looking for him?"

            "Yes, he... he owes me money, yes that's it. He owes my
family money."

            "Oh! In that case I haven't seen anyone matching that
description," said Ranma relaxing a little.

            "Sorry to bother you then. My name is Mu Tzu, what's
yours?"

            "Ranma Saotome." Dodge. "Hey pal, look where you are
throwing those spears."

            "Ranma for hurting my darling Xian Pu, prepare to die."

            "Huh! Who is this Xian Pu and why would I hurt her?"

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

Author's notes:

            Now about Ranma's abilities.

            In this story, Ranma has complete mastery of the Nekoken. 
Now, let's go through the training, shall we?

            In this Ranmaverse, the nekoken was actually developed as a 
_shortcut_ to reach the control of chi that one attains through 
extensive training of the nekoken. There were guidelines to choose the 
student, of course. The trouble was even with the guidelines, numerous 
children died and the training was banned.

            The true intentions of the technique were lost down the 
ages and when Ranma learns it, it has been corrupted. I use corrupted 
in the sense that it was not the training regimen that was corrupted 
but the methods used to select the student.

            Now, what is different between this Ranma and the Ranma in 
the canonverse: Simple, this Ranma's mother is dead and her dying words 
were "Ranma, I wanted so much to see you grow up into a man amongst 
men." Remember, the Ranma that heard these lines was not sixteen years 
old and most importantly, he did not have the faintest clue of how a 
man amongst men, in his mother's eyes, was supposed to behave.

            So, he improvised. He had begun training in martial arts 
and he had Genma to guide him. He took the best out of his father... 
perseverance, mindless dedication and he took the worst of his 
father... honor or the lack of it thereof, and made himself a man 
amongst men in his own eyes.

            This Ranma will be different then the one in the canon 
world. He hates his female half completely [Genma's influence. He 
considers women to be weak and even the Amazons are not able to 
convince him.], he is a protege at the art and in chi manipulation 
[thanks to the nekoken, he is more in tune with his body and his 
mind.], he hates cats [again, thanks to the nekoken.], his honor is 
impeccable and he will not hesitate to kill when his friends are in 
danger.

            Since he is in tune with his mind, body and soul[chi], his 
learning curve has increased greatly - thus his ability to sponge 
techniques. His chi is tightly focused and he has as much chi as 
Happousai or Cologne because he has been actively using chi for over a 
decade.

            Finally... I would like to thank Jakub for superior pre-reading.
 Jakub<jpilecki@poczta.onet.pl>
SMARTALECK PRODUTIONS

Master of Five

Chapter 02 <completed on 11/24/2001> <Revision#0)

Disclaimers:

            Rumiko Takahashi and Shogukkan own Ranma and the cast
members of Ranma 1/2. Rumiko Takahashi is one of the most brilliant
people to walk on the face of this earth. We the fans of the anime
world are forever indebted to her for giving us Ranma and co. Thank you

Rumiko Takahashi for bringing laughter back into our lives.

            And Tenchi Muyo is a great series too. All the characters
from Tenchi belong to whichever genius created it.

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

There were those that thought Mousse was blind as a bat. They were
wrong of course. He was blinder then the common bat in more ways than
one. Not only was his eyesight as bad, if not worse than a bat's but
when it came to one Shampoo, he was dumber then a bat too.

            Therefore, it went without saying that Mousse ignored the
obvious in all matters involving his beloved Shampoo. Naturally, Mousse
did not hear a single word that Ranma said while dodging the hail of
spears, chains and various other assorted weapons that filled the air.

            It did not help his goal any that he was getting angrier by
the minute. He had managed to tag people twice his age with this many
weapons and here he was having trouble even touching a single
individual roughly his own age.

            "Yo, blind boy, you'd better stop it if you know what is
good for ya," warned Ranma. When there was no response from the other
side of the chain that he had caught, Ranma decided to take matters
into his own hands, literally.

            With a jerk, Mousse was airborne and flying towards his
target at high speed. Before he could overcome his surprise and form
some defense, Mousse, master of the secret style of hidden weapons and
the master of pickle making, had his face pulped against the
surprisingly strong and large fist of one Ranma Saotome, heir to the
Saotome School of martial arts and the latest addition to the Amazon
village. Needless to say, his consciousness decided to take an extended
leave of absence at that very instant.

            Ranma looked at the white robed boy as he collapsed onto
the ground and snorted in disgust. "Whadda moron."

            He picked the 'moron' and took him to the village healer. A
pail of water chose that moment to fall on him.

            Ranma-chan jumped, startled and angry. "Goddamn it," he
yelled as he looked around. There was no one around and the water
seemed to have appeared miraculously.

            Up in heaven, a little girl fell to the ground howling with
laughter. She knew that she was just going to love this one.

            Ranma-chan stomped off towards the healer's with Mousse on
his shoulder.

            "Oh, my darling Shampoo," mumbled the unconscious boy. It
was evident that he was having a dream of the naughty kind.

            Thwap!

            "Whadda maroon," muttered Ranma-chan disgustedly. "And with
my luck, I'll be struck with this fool for the rest of the stay in the
village," complained Ranma-chan.

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

            "Faster... Are you a man or a woman?"

            "Grrrr. I'll show the old ghoul."

            Cologne smiled as Ranma sped up his deadly dance by that
much. The boy was truly a gift from the God's. The speed at which he
learned was remarkable and the speed at which he perfected what he
learned was even more remarkable.

            His ego and his revulsion of his girl-side was a problem,
though. It did not help that he was almost always right in every matter
concerning the art.

            She had recognized his hatred for his girl-side, the first
time she had talked with him. That had been the reason why she had not
even asked him to join the village in his female form. He would have
resented and revolted, and there simply were not enough skilled
warriors in the village to effectively contain one as skilled as him.
Mighty the Amazons might be, but all-powerful they were not. Not all
was lost, though. She would see to it that his excellent blood would be
bred into the village.

            Some of the other elders were afraid of the boy; after all,
he was going to be the best warrior in the village in a few short
years. They did not want to depend on a male, which showed that they
were bigger fools than she had thought they were. In each generation of
the village there had always been men gifted with the killer instinct
and the honored ancestors had enrolled these men into the army. Some of
these men had even risen to the position of elders in the tribe. The
last such event had taken place some five hundred years ago when Ti
Gher, a male warrior, had become an elder. It helped to keep the rest
of the men sated, thinking that they had some rights in the village and
thus prevented costly rebellions, which would sap the lifeblood of the
village.

            The fools in the council did not recognize that and she
pitied them for their foolishness. Women may be all powerful in the
village but the men were as important for the future as the women. With
age, their wisdom had diminished contrary to popular beliefs and she
pitied them for it.

            She knew that changes had to made though, if the village
was to survive for the next three thousand years just like it had stood
tall and proud for the last three thousand years. She had long ago
decided that she would go through with these changes even if they were
to be radical. The outside world was beginning to recognize that man
and women were equal, and the Amazons could not afford to lag behind.
To do so would mean that the village would die eventually.

            The actions that she, Mascara and Zhu Li were about to take
were likely to split the village in two. There would most likely be a
civil war but that had to happen if the village was to survive the
coming storm from the outside world. They could not afford to have
enemies inside if they were to have any chance of surviving the storm.
Thankfully, with warriors as skilled as Ranma on their side, casualties
would be reduced and peace would return soon.

            The time for the changes was ripe, though it was not
perfect. The seeds of war had been sown when the boy had entered the
village. She had seen the look of utter respect on the faces of the
men. Sooner or later, they would have decided that they are equal to
women and then the men would have revolted. They looked up to him and
therefore, she planned to have him on her side. It was for that reason
that she, Mascara and Zhu Li were the only ones that were training him
so that when war came, they would have his full support and thus the
support of the men folk.

            Mascara was already gathering her allies and Zhu Li was
trying to gain new ones. After all, the more powerful they are when the
war started, the faster it would end.

            Breaking out of the chain of thought, Cologne focused on
the boy.

            "Are you some type of wuss, boy?" she asked.

            Ranma gritted his teeth.

            "If I am such a wuss old woman, then why don't ya fight
me?" he asked with a sly grin.

            "Get ready then, boy, to get your ass kicked, royally."

            The Matriarch jumped into the melee and they fought, two
blurs of chaos and destruction against the backdrop of a pleasant and
peaceful meadow.

            Cologne was amazed by the improvements that the boy had
made in the last three weeks. It further enforced her belief that the
boy was a genius in the art.

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

            "Yo, Mousse, old boy, what are ya doing?" asked Ranma as he
propped himself against the boulder beside Mousse.

            "Ugnh! Oh, it's you, Saotome," said the aforementioned
Amazon, turning his head towards Ranma and squinting his eyes, even
though he knew that it was a useless gesture.

            "Who else could it be, Mousse, old goose?" asked Ranma. He
had begun calling Mousse old goose during the course of the first week.


            When he had taken the blind boy to the healer, he had
enquired about Mousse and learnt two things: (1) Mousse was one of the
best male warriors in the village, (2) He was obsessed with Shampoo.
When Mousse had come to, Ranma had offered him advice (he practically
beat him up to behave like a man instead of a spineless worm). By some
quirk of fate, Mousse had followed that advice and had stood up to
Shampoo, and by doing so had earned her respect. Ever since Shampoo had
been treating Mousse with respect and was even on friendly terms with
him.

            Now, the blind boy and Ranma were best of friends and he
had even volunteered to teach Ranma, his hidden weapons technique.

            And old goose seemed to fit the eyesight challenged Amazon
nicely.

            "Thinking Saotome."

            "Thinking? Well, no." Pause. "Actually, yes. I was trying
to figure out what exactly you are thinking about."

            "Tell me, O wise one, what have thou deduced in thy
thoughts."

            "Hmmm... You are very dedicated to two things. One is your
art and the other is your beloved Shampoo. Am I right?"

            Nod.

            "If you were thinking about the art, you would have offered
to share it with me, but you haven't. Therefore, we can safely assume
that you were not thinking about the art. Correct?"

            Nod.

            "Which leaves us with only one thing - Shampoo.

            "You were not just thinking about Shampoo, I saw the look
on your face when I came here. That is the look that I have seen boys
give girls when they were thinking about the true story behind the
birds and the bees."

            Blush. "What would you know, hermit? And I wasn't thinking
about that," Mousse announced, quick as a feather. His blush spoke
otherwise.

            "Oh, my poor friend Mousse has swallowed the bait, hook,
line and sinker. Poor Mousse. Awwwww!"

            Mousse, flushing red with embarrassment, tried to sucker
punch Ranma who evaded with a lot of room to spare.

            "Awwww, Poor Mousse, touched a spot, did I? Want me to help
you find your LOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE," teased Ranma while staying just out
of the blind boy's reach.

            Mousse flushed even redder.

            "Shut up and fight... Cute Ranma-chan."

            Ranma's anger at the remark was momentary. Instead of
allowing his anger to grow, he focused on the fight at hand and took
Mousse's momentary lack of concentration to rushed into Mousse's
defenses to deliver a lethal combination.

            Mousse realized too late that his friend was a cold-blooded
psychopath. He tried to block the punch, which would surely crush his
windpipe, but he knew instinctively that it was too late. He closed his
eyes and waited for the blow that would end his life.

            It never came.

            Mousse opened his eyes and there stood Ranma, his face
scant centimeters from Mousse's and his hand posed to strike the lethal
blow.

            "Boo."

            Mousse lost his balance and landed, not so softly on his
behind. Ranma extended his hands and Mousse grabbed them and hauled
himself to a standing position.

            Clap.

            "Hello Ranma."

            With a growing sense of dread, Ranma turned to face
Cologne. He was a little afraid of what the Matriarch would do, should
she have heard the conversation between Mousse and himself. He was sure
that she did not like Mousse courting Shampoo.

            "Hehe. Hello, elder Cologne. How long have you been there?"
he asked nervously.

            "Long enough to hear the references you boys made about my
great granddaughter."

            "Hehe. We were just joking elder. Hehe."

            Cologne gave the two of them a long look. The two shrunk
into themselves when they saw the look in her eyes. It did not portray
anger or revulsion or even acceptance, rather it portrayed something
that they could not quite fathom.

            "Very well then. No offense taken. Now, scram, you were
supposed to be learning with elder Mascara, if I remember correctly."

            Ranma seized the avenue of escape granted to him and fled.
"Yes, how stupid of me. I'd better be going then. Hehe."

            And disappear; he did, behind an impressive cloud of dust.

            Mousse, realizing that he was now facing Cologne alone
begun to sweat.

            "I'd better be going then too," he said and spun around,
faster than an eye can follow to make tracks.

            However, Cologne had other ideas. She grabbed him by the
scruff of his robe and turned him around.

            "So... You have finally decided to get serious with
Shampoo," she stated calmly without a care in the world.

            Mousse nodded.

            "Good. I was wondering when you would get serious seeing
that Shampoo loves you unconsciously." In fact, Cologne knew no such
thing, but she would need the boy on her side in the times to come and
Shampoo seemed as good a way as any to get him on the boat.

            "Elder..." He could not believe what the old mummy was
saying. Perhaps she was not an evil mummy.

            "Shhhh. But know this Mousse, I will give you and her the
permission to marry, only if you prove your superiority over her in the
field of battle. Is that understood?"

            "Hai."

            "Good. I think that Ranma is a good teacher, don't you
think so?"

            "Hai, elder."

            "Learn from him. If anyone catches you practicing wu shu,
just tell him or her that you have my permission to do so. Is that
understood?"

            "Hai, elder."

            "Now, get lost. I have important things to think about."

            "Hai, elder."

            Mousse tried to make himself scarce, but unfortunately, he
ran right into one of the many boulders in the area.

            "And while you are at it, do something to improve your
sight. It is atrocious," shouted Cologne.

            "Hai, elder," replied Mousse shouting back and scampered
away.

            Cologne looked at the disappearing boy thinking things
over. Two months ago, she would not have approved of the marriage or
even considered it, but things were different now, thanks to Ranma.

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

            Ranma shifted his body to the next asana. He body
responded, bending in such a way that even the most gifted martial
artist would have turned green with envy.

            He breathed in and felt the enormous current of chi that
flooded his being from his kundalini chakra. The feeling was
intoxicating.

            Since he always breathed in the correct way, the feeling
was always there, but it was more pronounced when he was practicing the
asanas.

            When the chi flow had reached a plateau beyond which it
could not rise, Ranma closed his eyes and entered the meditative
trances that characterized the higher levels of yoga.

            Before he had been taught the Nekoken, he was practiced the
hatha yoga, but after the Nekoken, he had found from the masters he and
his father had encountered in their travels that he was equivalent to
the eighth stage practitioner of Raja Yoga, which they had found quite
amazing. They had thought that reaching the eighth stage required
decades of practice and there he was, a boy less than a decade old
reaching the eighth stage of Raja Yoga.

            And true to this level, Ranma slipped into the Samadhi
state. His feeling of self dissolved and he floated, flying and yet not
flying, around the clearing that he had chosen for his early morning
exercises.

            Unlike others, who had mastered Raja Yoga, Ranma was always
in the dhyana stage even when he was not practicing Yoga actively with
his chi barely restrained by the Kundalini chakra, poised to strike at
a moment's notice like a coiled snake. The other masters were always in
the Samadhi state once they reached it, but Ranma found his condition
much better. It would become impossible to live like a man among men
should he lose his sense of self.

            As Ranma meditated, Cologne stood by the edge of the
clearing, her mind overwhelmed by what the boy had achieved with his
chi and his body. She had always believed that it was impossible to let
one's chi move outside the corporeal body and yet, here was proof,
right in front of her eyes, proving her wrong without a shadow of
doubt. She could see the seven dragons as her tribe called the chakras
moving in the air and absorbing the ki in the atmosphere, and
converting it into chi, which in itself was thought to be impossible.

            Sure, the Musk and some of the more skilled Amazons were
powerful ki adepts, but they could only use the ki for battle and most
definitely, they could not convert the ki they absorbed from the
environment into chi. This was one of the main drawbacks of Musk
warriors. Ki, though more abundant and thus more powerful than the chi
that the Amazons were so fond of using, was taxing on the body was
inefficient at best and had huge negative effects on the person should
he or she direct more ki than their bodies limit at worst.

            Moreover, using ki was like using a 500-pound bomb to kill
a fly, there was such a large waste of energy that the Amazons had
never been serious about it. And now, she was seeing the folly of that
decision taken ages ago by her ancestors. If the Musk mastered the
technique that Ranma was using then even with their very small numbers
they would pose a lot of danger to the Amazons.

            "Ranma..."

            Ranma started out of his reverie.

            "Huh! Oh, hi, elder Cologne, how are you doing?"

            "I am doing fine, Ranma. What were you doing just now?"

            "Oh, that... I was practicing Yoga, Raja Yoga to be exact."

            Cologne filed away that little piece of information.

            "So, this is what you have been doing in the early
mornings," stated Cologne. She was more or less certain that she was
correct in her assumption.

            "Hai, elder."

            Cologne remained lost in thought for several seconds before
speaking once more.

            "Go to your house and prepare for the day. Meet me in this
same clearing in two hours."

            "Hai, elder."

            "And Ranma, please cut down a little on your eating. The
herd owner complained that you eat nearly a tenth of his produce
everyday. Is that true?"

            "Yes, elder. I need to drink at least seven liters of milk
and eat over two kilos of butter everyday. It is the only way I can
stop losing weight."

            Cologne nodded. "I will make arrangements for your milk and
butter requirements then."

            "Hai, elder."

            "Now, go. I have some things to ponder about."

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

            "Ranma, the technique that I am about to demonstrate to you
is one of the most tightly guarded secrets of the Amazons. It is so
secret and so deadly that it has been used in battle only twice. What I
am about to teach you must never be taught to anyone outside the
council and even then only on my orders. In fact, most of the members
in the council do not even know of its existence. Do you swear to not
teach or use this technique except in the direst of circumstances."

            "I do."

            Nod.

            "Let's proceed with the training then. The technique is
called 'The Heaven's Way'. It is a series of linked attacks..."

            "Linked attacks?"

            "You are aware of what ki and chi are, aren't you?"

            Nod.

            "And you know the Bakusai Tenketsu. Bakusai Tenketsu is an
example of a linked attack - You link with the Earth when performing
the technique.

            "The Bakusai Tenketsu is the weakest of all linked attacks
that we know of."

            "..." What kind of attacks were they if they made Bakusai
Tenketsu look weak. True, the technique was almost useless but a master
could bring down Mountains to the size of molehills.

            "Ranma, think of a chain. Now, every link in that chain is
connected to two others. Nature works similarly, but on a vastly large
scale.

            "Ki and chi are part of nature... chi is the link between
us and nature, and ki is the connection between nature and us. The
Heaven's Way uses these connections to the physical and metaphysical
world to harness their energy and their power. This is what makes the
technique so dangerous.

            "A master of the technique can summon gales without
executing the spiral of the Hiryuu Shoten Ha or he can destroy a
mountain by merely wishing it or he can create a firestorm by thinking
it."

            "..."

            "Ranma, snap out of it. Now, I am going to demonstrate one
of the techniques to you and you will try to copy it."

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

Author's notes:

            This chapter is mainly to show the political situation in
the Amazon village and the friendship between Mousse and Ranma. Too
often have I seen these two at odds with each other.

            Next chapter will be set a few months in the future and the
Musk will be introduced as well a dark facet of Ranma's Nekoken.

            Hope you liked what I have written. C&C are welcome.

            Finally... I would like to thank Jakub for superior pre-
reading.
 Jakub<jpilecki@poczta.onet.pl>