Disclaimer: Use whatever disclaimer you want that qualifies for this fic 'cause I'm too damn lazy to write one out myself. " " Japanese / / Chinese < > Thoughts * * Action Sounds or Emphasis ( ) Author's notes Wild Horse of The Brood Part 1 By Raiu Kusanagi * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Here, sirs! We come to legendary training ground, Jusenkyo!" Seventeen-year-old Ranma Saotome, heir of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, stood before the latest training ground his father had dragged him to: Jusenkyo, also known as the pools of sorrow. The teen was tall, nearly six feet in height, and had the build of a professional athlete - well- muscled, but lean. His shaggy blue hair was pulled back into a pigtail that stretched down to his shoulder blades. His stormy blue-gray eyes scanned his surroundings as he dropped his backpack and tightened the belt on his dingy white gi. Next to him stood his father Genma Saotome, Master of the same school. The older man was shorter than his son by several inches, but outweighed him by more than fifty pounds. A white bandana was wrapped around his head as his beady eyes gleamed happily at the appearance of the training ground. Standing off to one side was a portly man wearing a dark green Mao uniform. "I got a bad feelin' about this, Oyaji." "Quit your whining boy!" Genma sneered, jumping up onto one of the bamboo poles sticking up out of the pools. "Follow me!" "Oh, sirs! No should train here! Very bad you fall in springs!" "Why's that?" Ranma asked, turning his attention from his father to the portly man. "Cursed springs very dangerous! Each have own very tragic story!" "Cursed?" Ranma glared out of the corner of his eye at Genma, causing the fat man to start sweating slightly. "How?" "Whatever fall in spring and drown, anything fall in after, become thing that drown!" "Oh, really?" Ranma asked, walking over to one of the springs and peering down into it. "Gah!" The teen hopped backwards in surprise and looked up at Genma. "C'mon, Oyaji. Let's get outta here! There really ain't somethin' right about this place!" "Alright, fine, boy! Go ahead and run away like the little girl you are!" Ranma turned his full attention to Genma and smiled slowly, revealing a pair of fangs in place of each eyetooth and sending a shiver down Genma's spine. "Little girl, eh? You're on, Oyaji!" With that, Ranma jumped onto another bamboo pole and braced himself. On some unseen signal, the two leapt at each other and began trading blows at blinding speed. After nearly five seconds of almost hanging in mid-air, Ranma slammed a punch into Genma's chest that sent the middle-aged martial artist flying. Genma came down into one of the many pools dotting the valley floor. "Is that it, Oyaji?" Ranma asked when Genma didn't surface after a few seconds. In response to his question, the water of the pool began boiling moments before a large shape came flying out of it. A giant panda landed on one of the poles and sank into a modified crane stance. Looking closer, Ranma could see that it was wearing Genma's glasses and gi top. "What the hell?! Pop?!" Ranma exclaimed as the beast launched itself at him. His surprise allowed the transformed Genma to catch him off guard and send him flying toward another pool. Ranma yelped in surprise and was barely able to grab onto a bamboo pole in time to keep from getting dunked. Using his momentum, Ranma swung himself around on the pole, then let so, sending himself up into the air. The color drained from Ranma's face when he saw his new landing point: a pool whose poles had all rotted away and stuck up less than an inch from the water. Unbidden, a single word escaped his lips. "Frost!" The water in the pool instantly froze solid an instant before Ranma slammed into it on his shoulder, cracking the ice. The blue-haired teen pulled himself to his feet and rubbed his shoulder absently. Stepping off the frozen pool, he turned to see Genma and the guide approaching him. "Growf! Growf, growf!" The panda paused and stared down at its paws for a moment before turning to the guide. "Oh, sir! You fall in Spring of Drowned Panda! Very tragic story of panda that drown in spring two thousand year ago! Now whoever fall in spring take body of panda!" "Is this permanent?" Ranma asked. "No." The guide replied, then pulled a steaming kettle out of seemingly nowhere. "Hot water cure curse!" Saying that, the guide poured the boiling water on the panda's head. Genma yelped in pain and surprise, then started doing a victory dance when he realized he was human again. "But sir!" The guide interrupted Genma's dance. "Cure only temporary! Turn back to panda if get splashed with cold water!" Genma visibly deflated. "Great training ground, huh Oyaji? There anywhere else to train around here?" "Hmmm... yes, is Amazon village of Joketsuzoku! Home to many powerful women warriors! Know very strong martial arts!" "Women martial artists? Hmph. Like they could have anything useful for us to learn!" "Ah, shut up, Oyaji. It oughta be better than this place was." With that, the trio carefully made their way back to where they had left their packs, then headed off toward Joketsuzoku. * * * * In the village of Joketsuzoku, the Matriarch Cologne was splitting her attention between watching the final bout of the tournament - which was between her great-granddaughter, Shampoo, and the giantess, Dowel - and trying to figure out what that surge of energy she'd felt at the edge of her senses was. She knew it couldn't have been fluctuations in the usual energy field surrounding Jusenkyo, as the surge had been too powerful. Just as the old woman decided to return her attention to the fight on the challenge log, a young Amazon approached her. /Matriarch, the Jusenkyo Guide has just arrived./ The young woman whispered into her ear. /He brought two other men with him. They move like warriors. What should we do?/ /Leave them be./ Cologne replied in a low tone. /I'd like to see what they do./ /Yes, Matriarch,/ the woman whispered before fading into the shadow of the building next to where the Matriarch was standing. Just then, she heard two people speaking in Japanese nearing her. "Here, sirs. We very lucky come on day of Joketsuzoku annual tournament! Is very great honor to win!" "I dunno, Oyaji. I got a *really* bad feelin' 'bout this place. We better be going back home soon, though. Don't wanna run into many more places like Jusenkyo." Cologne looked in the direction the voices had come from and saw the Jusenkyo Guide, a middle-aged, overweight man in a dingy white gi, and... ... a tall, blue-haired young man wearing an outfit quite similar to the older man's with an aura that put all her senses on full alert. The untapped bonfire of power was as cold as ice, yet like a pressure-sensitive bomb: just waiting for the right moment to explode. * * * * Ranma gazed around at his surroundings warily. The tingling feeling at the back of his mind he'd felt at Jusenkyo was now all but screaming "*DANGER*!" to him. The feeling was pushed aside as Ranma caught sight of the two women dueling on the log suspended over the middle of the clearing in the center of the village. The purple-haired girl with the two brightly colored maces was actually holding her own against what Ranma could only assume was a large woman wielding a bo staff. Ranma continued to watch the fight, silently appraising the two women's skill, oblivious to what his father was doing. It was only when the purple- haired girl knocked the giant woman off the log that Ranma became aware of some strange, yet oddly familiar sounds coming from behind him. With a sinking feeling, Ranma slowly turned around to see Genma stuffing massive amounts of food that had been laid out on a long table into his face. /You there!/ The purple-haired girl shouted at Genma as she jumped off the log and ran up to Genma. /Why are you eating my prize?!/ "Huh?" Genma grunted, looking up at the girl in confusion even as he continued stuffing his face. "Um, could repeat that in Japanese, please?" Ranma asked the girl, the sinking feeling getting worse. "Why you eat Shampoo's prize?!" Ranma silently groaned. It was then that Ranma noticed several girls approaching him from different directions. The first one to reach him said something to him in Chinese, only to get into an argument with a few of the other girls over something. "So..." Genma began, somehow having made it to Ranma's side without the purple-haired girl noticing. "Whoever wins the tournament gets the food, right?" "Yes. You want challenge for prize?" "No, but my son does! Ranma, get up there and make me proud!" "What?! Fight your own battles, Oyaji!" "Ranma, as the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, it is your duty to challenge the greatest fighters of each place we go to! Now quit whining like a little girl and go fight her!" "Fine." Ranma grumbled. "But you owe me big time for this one, Oyaji." With that, the young man walked forward and hopped onto the log, Shampoo following him a moment later. The two slid into fighting stances and waited for the other to make the first move. All but one ignored Genma as he returned to stuffing his face with food. That one was Cologne, who pogoed up behind Genma and tapped him on the shoulder. "I would advise waiting until the fight is over before you do that, young one," the Matriarch rasped. Genma turned to look at who had spoken and nearly soiled his gi in surprise before taking another look and silently sighing in relief. Despite that, something about her put Genma on edge, so he decided to heed her advice... just this once. Cologne turned her attention back to the fight. During Cologne's internal monologue, Ranma and Shampoo had continued staring at each other in a battle of wills. Shampoo broke first and charged at Ranma, pulling back her bonbori for a double-sided strike. The teen leaped over the attack and planted his foot against the back of Shampoo's shoulder. With a single push, Ranma slammed Shampoo down onto the log and was jumping all the way to the other end. Landing, Ranma quickly spun around and prepared for another attack. Shampoo was just standing up and reassessing her opponent. she inwardly smirked, On that thought, Shampoo charged forward again, but stopped just short of actually reaching him and called out an attack. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma didn't have time to even blink in surprise as he was hammered by over a hundred blows in a span of a few seconds. He barely managed to remain standing and fell to his hands and knees once the attack had stopped. Shampoo stepped back, breathing deeply, as Ranma coughed up some blood. "Damn. What the hell was that?" Ranma groaned. Ranma had barely managed to push himself to his feet when Shampoo struck at him again. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" The blue-haired teen was once again caught by surprise by the attack and was nearly knocked off the log, only managing to stop himself at the last second. "You give up now?" Shampoo asked haughtily, breathing hard. "You see you no match for Amazon womans?" The Anything Goes heir growled as he pushed himself to his feet, oblivious to the handprints of frost he left on the log, the slight puffs of steam created when he exhaled, and the ice cold glint in his eyes. "Not a chance, lady." Ranma's eyes narrowed as Shampoo growled and launched another Amaguriken at him. This time, the teen managed to block a good portion of the now slower blows. Shampoo could only gape in shock when the boy caught both her bonbori just behind the heads on the final strike and grinned at her. "There's one thing you don't know. Ranma." *WHAM* Ranma slammed his head against Shampoo's in a brutal head-butt. "Saotome." *WHAM* "*Never*." *WHAM* "GIVES." *WHAM* "*UP*!" *WHAM* Ranma released Shampoo's bonbori with his final head-butt, allowing her to reel back in pain and surprise. "Let's see how you like being on the receiving end of your own attack!" In the audience, Cologne had noticed how the temperature around the boy had dropped low enough for frost to form on anything he touched, including Shampoo's forehead and bangs. The boy's aura was also steadily shrinking, but becoming more defined at the same time. When she heard Ranma's last sentence, she almost laughed out loud. "Amaguriken!" Cologne's eyes widened in shock and she very nearly fell off her cane when Ranma's arms blurred and very nearly disappeared from sight. Shampoo's bonbori were quickly knocked aside and landed on the ground, covered in a multitude of deep dents in the shape of Ranma's fists. Cologne looked back up at the log to see Shampoo get sent flying off the log and landed hard. Cologne pogoed over to her great-granddaughter as the crowd parted before her and saw the girl was already starting to sit up with no visible injuries. /Seize him!/ Cologne shouted, pointing at Ranma. /No outsider may know our secret techniques!/ Ranma grimaced and held his side in pain for a moment before noticing that several Amazons had jumped onto the log on either side of him. However, before anybody could react, a flare of brilliant white light blinded everyone present. When they could see again, the two Saotomes were gone. Cologne silently cursed whatever had caused the flash of light before turning back to Shampoo, who was just standing up. /Shampoo, that boy defeated you in combat. However, he used an Amazon technique to do so. Do you know what that means?/ /I must either kill him or marry him?/ Shampoo hesitantly asked. /Exactly. And I expect nothing short of success whichever route you choose to follow, Shampoo./ Shampoo inwardly grimaced before replying. /But, Great-Grandmother... how am I supposed to find them? They disappeared without a trace!/ /They were Japanese and are most likely heading back to their homeland. The boy mentioned something about 'going back home soon.' You had better catch them soon or else you may lose them when they reach Japan. The older man called the boy Ranma and they practice the Anything Goes style of Martial Arts. That and the boy's appearance should help you in your search. Now, go gather a few supplies for your trip. You don't want them to get too far ahead, now do you?/ /No, Great-Grandmother.../ Shampoo said, almost sullenly, as she stood up and began heading back to her house. * * * * "What the hell was that?!" Ranma snapped. As soon as he could see again, Ranma looked around to see that he and Genma were on a trail they had followed a few days earlier, their packs laying nearby. "Does it really matter, boy?" Genma asked nervously, remembering how some of the Amazons had looked at him like he was a piece of meat or like they wanted to kill him. "Let's just get back to Japan." "Okay, Oyaji..." Ranma sighed, grabbing his pack. Genma grabbed his own pack and headed off to the east, Ranma following him a moment later. Unnoticed by either of the Saotomes, a pair of sky blue eyes watched them leave. With that, a nearly invisible figure faded out of view from its perch in a tree. * * * * "WHAT?!" Ranma shouted. "What do you mean I've got a fiancé?!" Ranma was almost ready to pound his father into a bloody pulp. After two months of traveling, they'd finally made it to the Nerima ward of Tokyo. Along the way, Ranma had gotten a severe shock when Genma gave him some money and told the teen to buy himself some clothes. Deciding not to tell his father about his own stash that he'd been saving, Ranma had stopped at a specialty store and bought several sets of Chinese outfits consisting of black slip on shoes, several pairs of black drawstring kung-fu pants, and Chinese silk shirts of various colors, all with wooden peg ties. Once Ranma had met up with his father again, Genma had dropped the bombshell about the Tendo engagement. "My friend Soun and I set up the arrangement before you were born." Genma replied, trying to appear sagely and failing miserably. "It's a matter of family honor that you marry one of Tendo's daughters, boy." A nasty twitch developed over Ranma's left eye as he stared at his father, anger and incredulity warring in his expression. "Oyaji..." Ranma growled. "This is easily your most IDIOTIC stunt ever! You have any idea just how *close* I am to declaring myself ronin and leaving you to take care of your own screw ups?!" "You wouldn't dare," Genma snorted arrogantly. "Look, old man. I'll give you one more chance. If I get along with one of the girls well enough for at least a month, I'll consider staying. If it's obvious nothin's gonna happen – even if it's on the first day - I'm gone. And I don't plan on even trying to make it work unless one of them catches my interest *real* quick! One other thing... you try an' push me into it, I'm still gone. Got it?" As Ranma spoke, Genma noticed the temperature steadily increasing until he could see tiny puffs of smoke coming out of Ranma's mouth when he exhaled and the air around Ranma started to blur slightly. That however, was secondary to what Genma saw in his son's eyes: his pupils narrowing into vertical slits and a disturbingly familiar glint that was used by one other person on him and had preceded him being exposed to massive amounts of pain the two times it had been used on him. "S-sure, b-boy," Genma stuttered. The temperature instantly returned to normal as Ranma calmed himself and his eyes returned to normal. "So where is this place, eh?" * * * * "Fiancé?!" The voices of two young women chorused. Soun Tendo gazed happily at his two daughters as they stared at him in shock. "I do hope he's older." Soun's elder daughter, Kasumi commented. "Younger men are so... boring." "Ugh. Who needs boys, anyway?" Akane, Soun's younger daughter, growled angrily. Around the corner leading to the stairs, a third young girl listened to the conversation in silence. The girl sighed forlornly as she turned and silently padded up the stairs to her room. After quickly stripping off her tank top and shorts, she slipped into the only formal clothing she had: a purple flower-print kimono that Kimiko Tendo had given her only a few days before her death. She'd only recently grown big enough to wear it comfortably. Wrapping her tail around her waist allowed her to wear the kimono without actually having to cut a hole in the back of the precious item. She kept her claws filed down just to make sure she never accidentally tore a hole in the silk dress as she put it on or as she was walking. The girl stepped in front of the small mirror on her wall and took a moment to check herself over. Her ears flicked a bit as she absently ran her fingers through her flame-red hair. Ever since Kimiko had died when Nabiki was nine, life had been anything but pleasant for the girl. Both of her "sisters" blamed her for their mother's death, at least subconsciously. Soun himself was distant toward her most of the time and downright cold at other times. Her three "family members" treated her as little more than a glorified pet or slave at times, as well. Even going to school was a problem. It was only her superhuman strength and agility that kept the bullies from bothering her too much. And even then, those qualities kept the rest of the students from getting close enough to her to be friends with them. Most of the teachers were fairly indifferent to her. Leaving the room, Nabiki tried to cheer herself up at least a bit. Nabiki made it downstairs to hear Akane speaking. "You mean we have to marry someone you've NEVER EVEN MET?!" "That's easily fixed," Soun answered. Nabiki's sensitive hearing caught the sound of someone approaching the front door and stop only moments before the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Nabiki called, heading in that direction. "Nabiki." Soun stopped her. "Why are you wearing that?" Nabiki winced as she turned to her adopted father. "Well... you did say that Ranma and his father would be arriving today, and I didn't want to make a bad first impression." Akane tried to cover her snort of disdain with a cough, but failed miserably. Kasumi's ever-present smile merely became a bit strained. "Hmmm. Very well." Soun said, then his voice turned hard. "Now go get the door." "Yes, father," Nabiki meekly replied as she headed toward the door again. * * * * As he approached the building, Ranma noticed a sign off to one side that read, "To challenge dojo Master in violent combat, use back door." The teen stopped in front of the door and pressed the small button to the right of the door. An almost imperceptible ring emanated from inside the building. Shortly after, the door slid open to reveal... Ranma thought, blinking owlishly at her. "Hi... I'm Ranma," Ranma began, smiling warmly, "though how long I'll remain a Saotome is up in the air right now. And you would be...?" "Nabiki... Tendo." the girl smiled widely in return, getting starry eyed looking at Ranma. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Nabiki silently assessed the teen before her. "Nabiki!" A man's voice called from inside the house. "Who's at the door?" "Ranma, father!" Nabiki called back. "Then show them in, girl!" the man's voice snapped, causing Nabiki to unconsciously flinch. Ranma's eyes narrowed slightly as he let Nabiki lead him into the building, absently shutting the door behind himself. Upon reaching the living room, Ranma was greeted by the sight of a lean, middle-aged man with long brown hair and a mustache sitting at the head of a low table. Two girls sat on either side of the man. One was a couple years older than Ranma with brown hair pulled back in a loose ponytail wearing a plain housedress and the other, wearing a yellow gi with a pink belt, looked to be about a year younger than Ranma and had long blue-black hair, only loosely held in place by a ribbon near the bottom. "Are you...?" The man – who Ranma assumed was Soun Tendo - began, standing up. "Ranma," the addressed teen answered simply, then tensed as Soun lunged at him. "At last, you're h-URK!" Soun was cut off when Ranma grabbed one of his outstretched arms and spun, hurling him into a wall. "Oh my!" the older girl gasped. "What the hell did you do that for, you jerk?!" the younger one snarled, standing. "You mean that wasn't an attack?" Ranma nervously asked Nabiki. "Nope. Father always was a bit... emotional." "Aw, damn." Ranma sighed, then bowed to the groaning man. "Sorry 'bout that. Just that the last few people to lunge at me like that were tryin' ta kill me. Guess my reflexes took control for a sec. Heh." Soun shakily stood up and waved off the apology. "No harm done, young man. But tell me, where is your father?" "Eh, he and I had a bit of a disagreement 'bout his decision not to tell me 'bout the engagement 'til a couple blocks back. If he recovers as quickly as he usually does, he oughta be here in a while." "Recovers?" Soun asked in surprise. "Told ya we had a disagreement. We settle those by seeing who can beat the crap outta the other quicker. Whoever wins, wins. Besides, having a homicidal maniac chasing after ya for a couple months usually doesn't do wonders for your mood, y'know?" "Homicidal... maniac...?" Soun twitched a moment before shaking it off. "Well, it doesn't matter. You're here now. That's Kasumi, she's nineteen." Soun pointed to the older girl, then to the younger one. "And that's Akane, 16. Pick one and she'll be your fiancé." "Just like that, eh? What about her?" Ranma asked, jerking a thumb toward Nabiki, who seemed like she was trying shrink in on herself at that. "Well... I... she..." "Whatever." Ranma sighed. "Look, don't you think it would be better to give us some time to get to know each other before shoving this on us?" "Why would I want to get to know you?" Akane snorted. "You're just another stupid boy." Ranma remained silent as Akane walked out of the room, toward the dojo, though his left eyebrow was noticeably twitching. "Oh my." Kasumi said, then turned to Ranma. "I'm sure she'll come around. She's really a nice girl. Well, I have to go finish cooking dinner." After Kasumi had left, Soun turned an expectant gaze on Ranma. "Well, son, which one will it be?" "What?" "Which of my daughters is going to be your fiancé?" "No offense, but how about letting me get to know them first? I told my old man I'd give it a month. I'll decide then." "I see. Just when will Genma be arriving?" "Soon as he breaks out of the ice." Ranma replied nonchalantly. "Got somewhere I can toss my pack?" "Certainly. Nabiki, show him to the guest room." It wasn't until the two teens were upstairs that something occurred to Soun. * * * * Meanwhile, back where Ranma had asked Genma for the Tendo address, passers- by gave a conical pillar of ice a wide berth as they went on with their day. Had they looked closer at the pillar, they would have seen an overweight, middle-aged man inside the pillar, a look of complete surprise on his face. Actually, that was probably *why* they were giving it a wide berth and otherwise ignoring it. This was Nerima, after all.