Author Roy's Corner

General => Fanart/Fanfiction => Topic started by: Author Roy on November 19, 2009, 12:32:56 pm



Title: Ranma AU
Post by: Author Roy on November 19, 2009, 12:32:56 pm
Still haven't figured out a title for this one yet, but I'm working on it. Here's the prologue.

-------

In 1621 , four powerful fiends from the underworld appeared on the Earth and brought to it great calamity, their coming marked by great floods and tidal waves that forever altered the face of the Earth itself. Each of the Four Fiends led their own powerful armies of one thousand lesser fiends into the cities and villas of man all over the world. They razed entire towns and cities, supped on the flesh of humans as cattle, and sacrificed those with pure hearts to their leader, the Arch Fiend, in an effort to revive it from a deep sleep and turn the world of mortals to one of suffering, where their rule would be absolute. For several short months, the humans fought amongst themselves as well as the fiends, but in time, began to grasp the scale of this threat, and men from countries all over united together against their common enemy.

In 1624 , The Tokugawa Bakufu abandoned its isolationist policies to make alliances with powerful foreign nations and supplemented the then Manchu ruled Chinese with Japan’s own considerable military might. Meanwhile, countries in Europe united under a single banner – that of religion, in the hopes that God would give them the strength to put an end to the fiends in their lands.

In 1628 , after four years of skirmishes and planning, but no decisive battles, the newly formed Holy European Alliance and the Middle Kingdom launched separate, but synchronized definite attacks against the fiends in their own lands. All able bodied men and women fought, or cared for the injured in this all or nothing fight for the survival humanity. Many casualties were suffered by both sides before the fiends turned the battle in their favor, one of The Four Fiends attacking the heart of the Chinese Empire, killing its emperor and any capable of leading in his stead. As the armies struggled to reestablish some semblance of command, a unit of Japanese soldiers lead by a man from a clan of Ninja engaged the fiend leading the attack in personal combat. The battle raged fierce for three days and nights, but the Ninja won, using a powerful sword that had been imbued with the power of Dragons. The fall of the first fiend marked the turning point of the war, and victories began to sound out for the humans all over the world. Eventually, heroes similar to the Ninja rose in other places and felled the remaining three fiends.

When the battle was over, many fiends and men lay dead in the fields. Though the leadership had disappeared, the weaker fiends had not completely vanished, and so, even as reconstruction began, skilled warriors were still needed to kill the fiends remaining on the Earth. The Ninja, joined by his clansmen, set to purging the world of the lesser fiends.

In 1970 , After one early World War, the world has made great technological leaps and bounds. With less overall conflict throughout the planet as a result of less independent nations and dispute, and more time dedicated to the scholarly pursuits and bettering life through inventions, the world has come to an era of general peace and stability. However, in recent years, the Japanese Empire has suffered at the hands of foreign and domestic criminal organizations. Organized crime has seen an increase, mainly in the prefectures on the Eastern Continent, or Toudo, though it has reached as far as Honshu.

= = = = = =

Friday, March 13th, 1970, 2:39 A.M.
Dai-Nippon Teikoku (The Great Japanese Empire)
Near Edo, Fujiwara Clan Estate
Garden Pond

= = = = = =

A young woman clad in a bright, pink kimono looked down in the water from her perch on a moss covered boulder. The moon, only half full, reflected back at her, the dim illumination barely enough to see her reflection. The young woman sighed and sat back on her stone, looking up at the plants and trees around. Wisteria blossoms hung down from several trees overhead, the dim light reflecting off of them with an almost eerie quality. She looked down at her neck and grabbed the jewel that hung there. Shaped like a teardrop, the stone around her neck, matching the flowers above her in color, had a soft glow to it that was only visible in the nighttime darkness. It was a family heirloom that her father had given to her when she turned sixteen, as recognition of her adulthood.

It was also one of the only things the man had given to her that wasn’t a tool for murder.

The young lady suddenly became unnaturally still as she became aware of another presence. A rustle in the grass behind her told her the exact location of the intruder, and she slowly reached into her kimono, clasping the hilt of the tanto hidden away there. The rustle became a little louder and she quickly turned in time to see a young man clad in a white gi emerge from the foliage. The man’s hair was long, and his face handsome, but his clothes were covered in dirt and grime, and his body in sweat. Yet he wore a smile that, to her, made him seem as a shining knight on a white horse.

“Soun,” The woman smiled, releasing her hold on the dagger. “You came.”

The martial artist chuckled and walked over to join the young girl.

“Of course. After training with The Master, even your clan’s traps aren’t enough to stop me from coming to see you.” He said with a chuckle before sitting down beside her on the stone.

The young lady stared at him.

“…Oh really?” She asked, noticing a red line on his face. She held up a hand to caress his cheek, then rubbed the red line. The martial artist gasped and she blinked. “What’s this?”

“Nothing,” He said.

“Nothing?” She asked with a grin, running her fingernail over the red line. Blood seeped out from the small wound and he grit his teeth.

“So I had a near-miss with a steel wire,” he said in a nonchalant voice. “So what.”

“Only one?” She asked, looking at his gi. The young lady blinked upon noticing a large number of cuts in his clothing, and rose an eyebrow in suspicion. “Are you sure you’re okay?” She asked, grabbing a fistful of his gi. The whole thing had almost been reduced to strips of cloth, bound now only by thin threads, and she could see inside it.

“I’m fine,” He said in annoyance, pushing her hand away. “But enough about me. How have you been?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished they hadn’t, as a great sorrow seemed to overtake her and she looked away. He frowned. “Yuki? Is something wrong?”

A small smile alit on her face.

“Soun…” After a moment, she finally turned to look at him again, tears gathering in her eyes. “My father… I’m…” She shook her head and looked away again.

“Yuki, come on,” The martial artist said with a serious expression. “You can tell me.”

The young lady finally turned to look him in the eyes and spoke.

“Oh, Soun… my father, he’s engaged me to some young samurai lord!” She threw herself around young martial artist.

Soun Tendō narrowed his eyes as he wrapped his own arms around her.

‘So, it has come to this already,’ The young man thought, looking over the young woman he held in his arms. He closed his eyes as a huge pressure that he’d put out of mind suddenly bore down on him with all of its weight. The pressure became a full-fledged pain in his chest as the thought of his Yuki being torn away from him forever. ‘Then it’s do or die.’

He looked up at the dim moon and spoke.

“Yuki. Let’s elope.”

The girl below him stopped crying almost instantly at his statement.

“E-Elope?” The kunoichi asked, looking up at him. “B-but… how? Where?”

Emboldened by the fact that she hadn’t refused yet, he looked down at her, trying to hold his composure.

“Nowhere… everywhere. I’ve lived on the road ever since I started training in The Art… I know how to survive like that. Even if your clan pursues us for the rest of our lives, they’ll never find us. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s how to stay out of sight.”
   
The kunoichi let out a small giggle.

“I’m sure I’m better at that than you.” she said.

“Even better,” He said. “You can teach me how.”

She smiled back at him despite the tears on her face, but the atmosphere was too heavy for either to last. Somber expressions donned their faces as the two considered what was happening right there.

“…I’m sorry, Soun.”

Soun Tendō’s eyes widened. Did she… could she be… was she refusing him?

“If I wasn’t the daughter of a clan like this one, we could be happy together…”

“We can still be happy together,” He said. “I don’t care if it’s in constant flight. As long as I’m with you, no matter where I am, I’ll be happy.” There was a pause and she stared into his eyes. “Yuki… please…”

The two stared at each other for a moment, and then she finally gave in and hugged herself to his body.

“Forgive me, father… I’m such a selfish girl…” Soun’s eyes widened again, for a different reason this time. The young martial artist was surprised when the young lavender haired woman below him quickly reached up and pulled him into a full blown kiss. After a long moment, she released him.

Soun looked at her, hope clear on his face.

“Then, you…”

She smiled.

“I’ll go with you. To the ends of the Earth and back.” She said, wrapping her arms around him tightly again.

Soun returned her hug in full and looked up at the moon with a mixed expression on his face. Several clouds threatened to move in and hide the small celestial object from view and the cold night air flowed across his skin, but for him, it was one of the happiest moments in his life.


= = = = = =

Saturday, August 10th, 1974, 1:35 P.M. (13:35)
Dai-Nippon Teikoku, Honshu
Edo, Saotome Residence
Living Room

= = = = = =

Genma Saotome sat down in his favorite chair before the television and turned it on with a remote, setting the gathered mail in his hands down on the stand beside him.

“…And officials have not yet released the identities of those involved in the drug trafficking incident in Suginama-ku of last night,” A young female reporter said. Several pictures of men and a woman hung in the background and to her side. The image shifted from a view of the reporter to that of only the men and woman, and she continued. “The initial conclusion had been that the four suspects were members of, or otherwise related to one of the ‘Triad’ groups of the Chinese Republic, but new evidence has been put forth to dispute those claims...”

Genma blinked as the woman reporter continued to speak.
 
‘Suginama-ku? That’s one district over!’ He shook his head. ‘What’s wrong with these police, letting foreign criminals get so far into our country? The mainland no less! For shame!’ He sighed and grabbed the mail to his side, tuning out the woman’s voice, and started going through the mail. Bills, Bills, advertisements, more bills… He boredly set the bills aside for Nodoka to go through later, while putting the advertisements in a trash pile. It wouldn’t do for his wife to find out more ways to spend money, after all.

“Oh?” He blinked upon finding a post card, and smirked upon seeing the name. “Soun, you old dog! It’s been months!” He turned the card over and was treated to a picture of Soun’s young family dressed in sparse, island clothing. A toddler stood beside Soun and his wife, while the two of them held a smaller child each. Behind them was a beach that stretched out into the distance and many other people laying out on the beach. He quickly looked down to the message that had been written to him by his old friend. “Hmm, hmm. Staying in the Atlantic Union, eh?” The martial artist chuckled.

The A.U. had become a popular vacation spot for young Japanese couples and families ever since the end of the ‘cold war’ between them and the Great Japanese Empire. Diplomatic relations had been steadily improving over the years, as the young new emperor took great strides in trying to befriend his fellow world leaders and further set the world into peace.

Genma looked the post card over a bit more, then sighed. It was a bit unfair, considering he wasn’t ever able to send a response back to his old friend, since the man was always on the move, but it did feel great knowing his friend was alive and well.

“Hmm… so little Kasumi’s training is going well, huh?” The martial artist looked down from the post card to the small child lying on the ground beside his chair, asleep. Considering that his friend was on the run from deadly deadly ninjas, it was probably a good idea to make sure the kids could defend themselves. Though Genma had no such pressure, that didn’t mean he lacked initiative of his own.

= = = = = =

Friday, December 17th, 1982, 4:28 A.M. (4:28)
Dai-Nippon Teikoku, Honshu
Edo, backstreets

= = = = = =

Ranma looked up from his position behind a couple of large dumpsters in a dirty alleyway. Beyond the dumpsters he could see a dingy metal screen door that lead into the establishment his father had walked into minutes before. The man had told him to stay there and be ready to run when the time came, but he wasn’t quite sure what his father was planning.

‘What is this place, anyway?’ He thought, frowning. It was, dirty and smelly, so they probably wouldn’t notice his father peeking around, but from what he’d seen out in the front, it didn’t seem like a place his father would be welcome.

Suddenly, the door opened, and his father tiptoed out before slowly closing it behind him. The man wore a kerchief over his head and was carrying a sack of some sort over his shoulders

“Boy!” The old man called out in a loud whisper. “Where are you?”

“Right here, pop,” Ranma said, standing up from behind the dumpster.

“Right, good. Come on, let’s-“ As he spoke, Ranma heard loud voices crying out in foreign languages. “Damn, I didn’t think they’d notice that fast! Come on, boy, we’ve got to get out of here!” The martial artist took off across the alleyway, and Ranma after him. “Try to keep up!”

“What the hell did you do, pop?!” Ranma demanded.

“I’ll tell you when we’re in the clear, boy,” The man said as they burst out of the alleyway and into an old, cracked up street. Ranma blinked and looked around – the whole neighborhood was run down, with houses falling apart, graffiti marking the walls, and broken down wire fences around yards full of dead weeds. “What are you waiting on! Hurry!” Ranma immediately turned and saw his father running down the cracked pavement to his right. The young boy took off after his father and noticed that they were headed for a fenced off canal.

When his father reached the end of the street, he immediately jumped up and started climbing up the fence, and it was then that Ranma heard the angry yelling voices of the foreigners behind him. He reached the fence as his father climbed over to the other side and started up it himself while Genma immediately took off towards the left.

And then he heard the sound of gunfire.

Almost instantly, he could hear something ricocheting off the fence nearby. The boy redoubled his pace and was over the fence in seconds. He fell down onto some grass and took off after his father just as another shot was fired, fear driving him to quickly catch up to the man.

“Just what the hell have you done, old man!? Did you rob some yakuza or something?!”

Genma turned and glared at his son as they ran.

“Don’t be stupid! Those are Triads, son!”

Ranma blinked in confusion.

“What?”

Genma looked back and then straight ahead.

“The Yakuza tend to run a legitimate business, son,” The man explained. “They know the value of honor and integrity. These foreigners are just here to ruin the country!”

“Foreigners?” the boy asked.

“Yes, from the Chinese republic!” The man said. “And they’re so amateurish, too! The Yakuza would never have kept everything together like that. These guys are chumps! This is the easiest money I’ve made in months!” He jumped at the gunshot that he heard from behind and both immediately picked up the pace.

-=-=-=-

The two martial artists stood panting over a small bridge in the canal. The darkness of the relatively new moon had allowed them to escape much easier than Genma had expected, and there were no signs of a continued pursuit.

“We can stop here, boy,” Genma said, dropping his sack down to the ground. Ranma frowned at the sack as his father opened it and started rooting around.

“What did you steal from them, anyway? Money?” He asked.

“Yes, money,” Genma said, pulling large bundles of cash from the pack. He threw them onto the ground beside Ranma, whose eyes nearly exploded from his head when he saw the notes. “That should do it, the rest is garbage,” Genma picked up the sack and tossed it into the canal. Ranma followed the sack with his eyes and watched it float along the manmade river, confused.

“What the heck is still in there?”

“Poison, boy,” Genma said, bending down and picking up the money he’d thrown down to the ground. “Heh, I’ve done a service to the community and made a quick buck!” He looked down at his son. “Son, I only pray that one day you are as resourceful as your father.” The man chuckled again and started counting the notes in his hands. “Let’s see, let’s see… what to do with my well earned cash…”

Ranma just stared up at his father as the man counted his ‘earnings’ with a wide grin.


= = = = = =

Tuesday, January 12th, 1983, 4:28 A.M. (4:28)
Dai-Nippon Teikoku, Tokushu
Midorigawa-shi, Midori Beach

= = = = = =

Soun Tendō looked out the window at the mountains from the vacation home he had rented with his wife and children. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it served its purpose, being easily moved into and out of. The sky was still dark, the sun not having yet peaked up over the horizon, but there was still a little bit of light out, casting the mountains a dim blue hue. To the south was the beach and pacific ocean, which his family would crossing to get to the Australian Republic in less than an hour.

The martial artist sighed at the view. Weeks ago, when the family had moved in, it had been an enchanting sight. He’d been all over the world in the past thirteen years, and though they didn’t compare to the mountains of Nanshu, they were still a spectacular view. But today, something was off. There was a feeling of unease throughout the air, yet he could not put his finger on it. The pursuing ninja had been closer than they were now before, and that had been a different feeling. And considering the fact that his family moved from place to place like nomads, there was no way that it was that today was the day of a trip.

So what was it?

He shook his head and turned, walking over to the glass sliding door that separated his room from the wooden sun deck. He saw his three daughters sitting down on the deck and opened the door to join them. The deck had a similarly enchanting view – that of the extended beach and ocean, but more stunning than that was the sight of his three beautiful children on the ground. Life on the road had forced him to be hard on them, far harder than he’d ever wanted to be on his own children – daughters at least, if he’d a son then the boy wouldn’t have gotten a whit of mercy anyway – but they were still the graceful, elegant, and intelligent girls that he could have wished for. Or so he liked to think, anyway.

Each girl was dressed in nothing more than a tank top and some shorts, wore their own backpack, and was sitting on the floor. Each pack was filled to the brim with the sum total of the owner’s belongings, including clothes and anything else they considered important enough to keep, and they were all talking to each other animatedly about something or other.

Soun himself was as sparsely dressed as they, and the reason was simple – anything more and swimming through the pacific, even if it was only for a hundred and twenty or so kilometers, would be a hassle.

“You girls ready?” He asked, looking down at them. Each one looked up at him, and the oldest one spoke up.

“We’ve been ready, father.”

“Hmm,” he nodded. “Then, we just wait for your mother, and we can get started on our swim.”

“Geez, what’s taking her so long anyway?” The youngest girl asked, sounding annoyed. “Doesn’t she know we don’t have all day? Those ninjas will be on us any minute now!”

“Shut up, Akane,” the middle child said, with a sigh. “If she’s taking long, then there’s got to be a good reason.”

“Don’t tell me to shut up!” The younger girl snapped back.

“I will if I want to,”

“Both of you please be quiet,” Kasumi said with a sigh, before looking up at her father. “Akane’s just excited about seeing the Australian Republic for the first time, father.”

“I see,” The man said with a smile when his youngest daughter blushed. ‘That’s true. The last time we went, Akane was still just a baby.’

“Dear,” came a voice from behind him. He blinked and turned to look at his wife, who was standing in the doorway, and his eyes widened when he noticed how pale her face was. “You... you need to see this.”

“What, what is it?” He asked, walking over to join her. Akane and Nabiki both stood up to join him in curiosity, but Yuki looked over at them sharply.

“Kasumi, keep your sisters here.” The woman said before taking her husband’s hand and leading him into the house.

“What, what is it? I wanna see!” Akane tried to go after them, but her older sister held onto her shirt with an iron grip.

As Yuki led her husband into the house, Soun was beginning to feel a sense of dread. His wife’s expression alone had been enough to prepare him for the worst, but that sense of unease he’d been feeling earlier was very quickly growing into full blown anxiety.

She lead him into the room that the girls had been sharing and turned on the television. Immediately a picture of an aged reporter wearing glasses and a rather grim expression appeared, with the picture of the familiar smiling form of their emperor set in the screen beside him.

“…ause of death is confirmed as strangulation, but authorities have yet to pin down any suspects…” The man said in a monotone. His eyes quickly registered the subtitle and he gawked at what it read.

[EMPEROR NOBUHITO ASSASSINATED]

Soun Tendō did not register what the reporter said after he saw those words. All he knew was that the symbol and leader of his country, a man who had done nothing wrong to his people, and deserved so much more, had been murdered. The young emperor was only thirty four years old, having only been crowned three years earlier at the untimely death of his father due to illness. He had been actively working on reforms in law enforcement and attempting to purge as many loopholes on immigration policy as possible, which made sense, considering it was all but obvious that the crime syndicates in Japan were being supplied with foreign drugs and men.

The Yakuza were one thing, running their ‘legal’ gambling rings in the city, extortion and racketeering and the like, but the Triads and the Spanish Mafia who had started to appear in recent years were more focused on drug trafficking and prostitution. They were lead by rich, powerful foreigners who had influence in their own countries and spread their poison into Japan by taking unfortunate Japanese youths off of the streets, and using them as peddlers and enforcers. And worse – as their activities were starting to infringe upon Yakuza territory and affecting Yakuza profits, violent crime in Japan – even as far as Honshu – had seen a steady rise. Most of the youths were minorities, of countries that had been annexed during the expansion of the Japanese Empire, and they cried out for a way to venge themselves against the Japanese. Nobuhito, had seen this, and tried to reach out to them with his reforms, making things better for them.

It was likely why he’d been killed in the first place.

“Soun…” The long haired martial artist was snapped back into reality by his wife’s voice. “We have to go. Even after this, they’ll still come after us.”

He realized his wife was right. There would be time to grieve later. His first priority was ensuring the continued existence of his family, as selfish as it sounded.

“We can’t let them know right now,” He said. “They can’t afford to be thinking about it during the trip.” His wife nodded her agreement.

He sighed. Someday it would have to end. The constant running, and the extremely dangerous, yet necessary training for his poor daughters… it had to stop at some point. After thirteen years, he’d have thought that her father would try to make peace, but the killing intent of those pursuing ninja never waned, not even once.

He turned and started walking for the door as his wife turned off the Television.

‘What is their goal? Are they trying to take our country apart?’ He thought, before shaking his head. ‘That’s something to think about for later. For now…’ He stepped outside and saw the faces of his daughters. Nabiki had a smug look on her face while Akane glared at her, and Kasumi just smiled through it all. He smiled at the sight, some of his apprehension fading away. For now, he had to be strong for them.

= = = = = =

Tuesday, May 22nd, 1984, 1:34 P.M. (13:34)
Dai-Nippon Teikoku, Honshu   
Somewhere near Edo
Dusty road

= = = = = =

Ranma grit his teeth as he lifted his left hand up and moved it forward, careful to keep his balance by moving his legs just so. The heavy rocks tied to strings around his waist swung about as he teetered dangerously over. The sound of the rocks hitting each other over and over was really beginning to grate on his nerves –

“Whoa, waahhh!” The pony-tailed martial artist fell forward, landing on his back. Some of the rocks were between him and the ground, and he cried out in pain.

“Quit yer whinin’, boy!” Genma said from beside him.

“Why do I have to do this stupid exercise?!” Ranma demanded, sitting up and rubbing his back where the rocks had hit him.

“Balance, boy, balance! You’re a useless fighter if all it takes is a little push to knock you down!”

“I can stand up just fine, stupid!” The boy yelled back, glaring up at his father and wincing at the pain in his back from landing on the rocks.

“Maybe on your feet, with nothing to weigh you down, sure. But there will be situations where you cannot predict exactly how or where your footing will be, or what you will be carrying!”

“But why do I need to do this?! It’s pointless!”

Genma slapped the back of his son’s head.

“Nothing I do is pointless, fool boy! Now stop whining, unless you’re going to admit that you can’t do it…”

“Hah! I know how to do it! Watch me!”  The not-quite-teenager said defiantly, quickly getting up to stand on his hands once again. When he managed to stay up for thirty seconds, Genma nodded.

“Good! Now keep pace!” He said, before starting to walk again.

Ranma scowled at the ground as a bead of sweat gathered on his head before hitting the ground with a soft splat.

“Nng…” He once again began to move his feet and legs over head to maintain his balance. And then he felt it – another drop of sweat slowly making its way down his face, right towards his eye, until finally, it went in. “Ahh!” the sharp, if brief sting, was enough to distract him once more and he fell over again.

“Hmph! Pathetic!” Genma snorted.

“Why do you get to walk like normal!?” Ranma demanded.

“Because I’m not the one learning how to find my center of gravity! Now get back up!”

-=-=-=-

About an hour later, Ranma was finally starting to pick up the pace and walk at something approaching normal speed.
   
“All right,” Genma said, noticing something on the ground off to the side of the road.

“I can take a break?” Ranma asked, relieved.

“No,” Genma responded, reaching down to the ground to pick up the hunk of wood about the size of a baseball bat that was lying there. “You can begin phase three of the training – dodge!” He quickly slammed the bludgeon straight down onto Ranma’s right hand, and the boy cried out in pain and immediately fell over to the ground. “What the hell was that?! I said ‘dodge’, boy! Now get back up and start walking again!”
 
= = = = = =

Monday, October 7th, 1985, 5:48 P.M. (17:28)
Dai-Nippon Teikoku, Nanshu
Forested mountain in the Wilderness

= = = = = =


“Ugh… Dad, can’t we catch a break? I’m tired of all of this!” came the voice of one of Soun’s daughters. The martial artist looked over at Nabiki, who was carrying a large boulder on her back towards a pile of similarly sized boulders.

“Of course you can’t take a break,” He snapped. “There are no off-days for martial artists!” He said, leaning back and folding his hands behind his head comfortably.

“Maybe I don’t want to be a martial artist!” She snapped back at him. “Or a ninja!”

“Hmm,” Soun frowned.

“I want to be a ninja!” Akane yelled out from where she was, carrying her own boulder.

“That’s my girl,” Soun said with a smirk. “Your sister has the right of it, Nabiki. Why don’t you just grin and bear it?”

“Because I’m tired of it all!” The girl said, stepping on a vine. The vine snapped and rather large, suspiciously placed log swung down and slammed into the boulder on her back, sending it flying in the opposite direction that she was heading. The girl turned and looked at her boulder in horror. “Ahhh! You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“If that were a real trap, you would be dead,” Soun said. “You need to be more wary of your surroundings, girl! Now go back and get your rock!”

“Damn it!”

“Watch your language!”

“Bite me!” The young teen cried out, before immediately taking off in a random direction.

“What!?” Soun immediately stood up and glared down after her, and immediately gave chase. “Someone needs a spanking!”

-=-=-=-

At the shore of a lake that was surrounded by mountains and trees, Tendō Kasumi stood, staring at her mother, who was little more than a dot at the distance she was at. In the water below her, several crocodiles, or alligators, or whatever they were, were swimming about in the dirty water. Kasumi grabbed the hilt of the wakizashi on the small of her back and sprang out towards the water in one smooth motion, her mother doing the same on the opposite shore.

The two rapidly approached each other, the splashes of their footsteps echoing in their wake. Her mother moved far faster than she, but Kasumi was prepared to meet the woman head on and did so by unsheathing her blade in time to deflect several shuriken. She then swung her sword out towards her mother, and it was met with one of equal length. The two leapt back after the exchange and started running again to keep above the water. After circling each other for a short moment, they clashed once more as Kasumi tried to take an opening, but her mother was prepared for it and the sound of steel hitting steel resounded throughout the valley once again.

They both turned when they heard Nabiki crying out.

“Ahh! I’m sorry already! Stop, stop!” They turned to see Soun carrying his daughter out to the lake on his shoulders, and jumped away from each other. “I hate crocodiles! I said stop! AHHHH!” The girl screamed when her father tossed her into the lake.  

Both Kasumi and Yuki fell down into the lake as their attention on each other waned.

“See if you’ll disrespect me now, ingrate!” The long haired martial artist said, crossing his arms as his daughter swam back towards the shore, dodging crocodiles left and right. “Hah!”

“You’re crazy!” The girl called out amongst her splashing.

“You swim like a guppy! Come on!”

Kasumi floated up to the surface of the water and looked at her mother, who was smiling at the scene, then smiled herself. She absentmindedly slammed her fist down into the water right as a crocodile attempted to bite her leg, knocking the aquatic animal unconscious.

= = = = = =

That night, 9:55 P.M. (21:55)
Dai-Nippon Teikoku, Nanshu
Forested mountain in the Wilderness
Campfire

= = = = = =

Kasumi looked over her younger sisters from her position beside the fire. Nabiki was nursing a few bruises and Akane was reading a manga that they had picked up in a nearby town. The younger one seemed to be well entertained, but Nabiki was still bitter about losing to her father. Hearing her parents approach the clearing, she turned and looked up at them.

“Welcome back,” she said. “How did it go?”

Soun and Yuki looked at each other several times before looking down at her.

“Girls,” Both said. They looked at each other again and Yuki held up her hands.

“You do it,”

Soun shook his head.

“No, no, you can if you want.”

“I don’t mind,” She said.

“Yes you do,” He said.

“Okay, so I do,” She said with a shrug before looking at the three girls. By now, Akane and Nabiki were both looking up at them as well. “Girls, your father and I have some important news for you.”

The three girls looked at each other, then at their parents again.

“What is it, mother?” Kasumi finally asked.

“We’re going to Edo.”

The three girls were silent. They looked at each other again, some slight confusion on all three of their faces, and Nabiki looked up at her mother again.

“You mean in Honshu?”

“Yes,” The woman nodded.

“Why? Isn’t it dangerous to go there?” Akane asked.

“It’s because they’ve stopped pursuing us,” Kasumi said. Her parents looked at her, and she at them. “Haven’t they?”

“That’s right,” Soun said with a smile. “It’s been several months already, but we had to make sure.”

“How do you make sure ninjas aren’t following you?” Nabiki muttered.

“It’s complicated, but suffice it to say that we’re absolutely certain,” Soun said. His statement was met with silence, as none of the girls knew exactly how to react to the news.

“…No more traveling?” Akane finally asked, curious.

“Not for a long, long time.” Soun said with a heavy sigh.

“No more training?” Nabiki asked hopefully.

“Not on your life,” Yuki said with a snort. Nabiki frowned and looked at the fire.

“Where are we going to live?” Kasumi asked.

“My family has a dojo,” Soun said. “I inherited it when my uncle died, and had intended to teach there with an old friend of mine, but plans had to be changed. Now I can finally put it to use.”

“A dojo!” Akane’s eyes widened with excitement. “Does that mean we’ll be able to spar with other people?”

“If we can find some students, yes,” Soun said. “Though, I don’t think most city folk are as dedicated as we are… you girls might have to stick with adults if you want to make anything of it…” He said, frowning.

While the other two girls continued to ask their father questions, Yuki walked over to Kasumi, who looked up at her.

“Come here, I have something to give you,” The woman said with a smile as she knelt down and took her hand. Kasumi stood up and followed after her mother, who led her away to their backpacks at the fringes of the clearing. The woman knelt down and opened her backpack before digging into it and retrieving a small box. Kasumi joined her on the ground and the older woman turned, handing the box to her. “Go on, open it. I was saving it for your next birthday, but I think you already deserve it.”

“Hm?” Kasumi blinked. “Are you sure?” Her mother nodded at her with a smile, so she opened the box. Inside, a small tear-drop shaped jewel on a necklace. It had an otherworldly glow to it. “It’s… it’s beautiful…” The young kunoichi said. It was the same color as her mother’s hair – a soft lavender-pink hue.

“It’s an heirloom that was given to me on my sixteenth birthday,” her mother said. “It signifies that you are recognized as an adult in the clan, by experience and skill.”

“Oh? But I don’t think…”

“You’re already as skilled as I was when I got it, and you’re twice as mature,” Her mother said with a giggle and a wink. “Go on, keep it. It’s yours from now on.”

“Mine?” Kasumi looked over at her sisters.

“Yes, yours. I have something else planned for your sisters, don’t worry.” She said, patting her daughter on the shoulder.

“Oh…”Kasumi looked down at it once more before bringing it out of the box. “What is it called?”

“’The Dragon’s Tear’,” Her mother said. “Legend says that it is part of the sword that our ancestor used to defeat one of the Four Fiends,” She said.

“You mean in the Great War?” Kasumi asked. Her mother nodded.

“Yes, back when even the powerful fiends still roamed the Earth. Of course, it’s an old legend, so I have no idea whether or not it’s really true, but my father seemed to believe in it.” Her face fell when she thought about him. “Father… how long will it have been now?” She looked down at Kasumi. “Fifteen years… yes, fifteen years, sixteen next March.” She smiled and ran her hand through her daughter’s hair. “You were born the same year your father and I ran away,” She said with a giggle. Kasumi just blushed and looked down at the necklace again.

“Mother… thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now come on, cheer up, we’re finally going to be living in a stable house.” She said with a grin. “Aren’t you excited?”

Kasumi looked up at the sky with a small smile of her own.

“Yeah… excited.”

= = = = = =

Friday, August 19th, 1988, 5:30 A.M. (5:30)
Chinese Republic, Bayankala Mountain Range
Misty Valley

= = = = = =

Genma and Ranma looked around as they walked through the mist.

“It should be around here, somewhere…” Genma said, fishing into his gi for the travel guide. “Let’s see…”

“You sure we’re headed in the right direction, pop?” Ranma demanded, turning to look at his father with a frown on his face. “We crossed into Chinese territory for some supposed mystical training grounds, but where are they?! Do you even know?”

Genma frowned back and smacked the boy over the head with the travel guide.

“Of course I know, boy!” he snapped, before looking at the guide again. There was too much Chinese for him, but the picture was clue enough. “Hmm... we’ll know when we find the small hut and the ponds…” They both blinked when, seemingly by magic, the mist before them cleared and revealed a valley below them, with a small hut and many different springs dotted about. Bamboo poles stuck out from each spring like balance posts, marking the place for what it was, and Genma smirked.

“See boy! I told you!” He quickly pocketed the guide and started walking down into the valley. “Now come on, we don’t have all day!” When they made it to the side of the hut, a husky man sitting in a chair and smoking on a traditional pipe looked up at them and blinked.

“Oh, customers!” The man said, taking the pipe from his mouth. “You’ve come to see the cursed springs, yes?” The man asked.

“See? What do we look like, tourists?” Genma asked, looking at the man.

“Oh, no?” The man blinked and looked them over. “Training journey then?”

“Of course!” Genma snorted.

“Well, I’m obligated to tell you, even if you’re illegal aliens,” The man said with a shrug, “These pools are cursed, Mr. Customer. Fall in one and you take the shape of a creature that drowned in it long ago. Very tragic tale.”

“Huh, his Japanese is pretty good,” Ranma muttered.

Genma looked at the man for a moment, then snorted again.

“Bah, what do we have to fear of some urban legend? Spin your tragic tales for some other visitor!”

“Suit yourself,” The Chinese man said with a shrug, placing the pipe back into his mouth. He reached down beside his chair and picked up a video camera.

“Hmph. Ranma, are you ready?” The bulky man said as he dropped his pack down to the ground.

“I was born ready, old man,” Ranma snorted, doing the same. Both martial artists started their stretches while the man set his camcorder.

“You don’t mind if I record this, do you?” The guide asked.

“If I can get a copy,” Ranma said, “I’d like something concrete to remember kicking pops’ ass by, you know?” He said with a smirk.

“You forget yourself, boy,” Genma said with a snort before he started walking towards the bamboo poles. “Come, so I can show you just how outclassed you are!” The guide was already aiming his camera at them when they leapt up to the bamboo poles. After leaping from pole to pole until they were closer to the center of the springs, they faced each other down.

“You’d better not cry when I beat you down, old man!” Ranma taunted with a smirk as he took up a stance.

“The one who’ll be crying is you! Here I come!” The two leapt at each other with a loud kiai and the guide chuckled.

“Here it comes…” He followed them with his camera as their kicks met in the air. Ranma managed to bounce off of his father and land onto another pole, but the older martial artist was sent tumbling down into the water with a splash.

“Hah! Look at that! Down one already, pops!” Ranma called out as bubbles floated up to the surface of the pond. “Heh heh … heh?”

He was not prepared for the sight of the giant panda jumping out of the water with a fierce scowl on its face and karate dogi stretched around its massive form.

“What the hell!?” He demanded, to overcome by shock to move in response.

“Oh, the spring of drowned panda!” The guide yelled out as the panda punched Ranma in the gut, knocking him off of the bamboo pole. “Very tragic tale of panda that drown there thousand or so years ago!”

Cognition finally kicked in for Ranma as he heard the tail end of the man’s statement.

‘No! He was telling the truth about the springs!’ He desperately maneuvered his body around and tried to catch onto a bamboo pole as he fell, but the nearest one was simply too far away. As he fell down towards the water, the world seemed to slow down for him as he realized that his life as a human being could well be over.

Ranma slammed down into the cursed spring without even thinking to take a breath of air. He immediately felt a strange tingling sensation all over his body, but realized that more importantly, he needed to breath, and so quickly swam up to the surface, gasping as soon as he reached it. Once there was fresh air in his lungs, the teen looked down at his body, blinking at how strangely human it felt despite odd feeling in his chest. Blinking, he quickly looked down and, to his surprise, saw that his chest now extended out a bit further than it should. Ranma quickly pulled his gi open to reveal a pair of very healthy looking mammaries, floating in the water.

“B…breasts?”

There was a pause as Genma stared at his ‘son’, then finally, himself, in shock.

“Spring of Drowned Girl!” The guide called out helpfully. “There’s a very tragic tale about a girl who drowned there many years ago!”

Ranma had already figured it out, really – considering he, or well, she, now had breasts. A quick check told him…her?… anyway, some very vital male equipment was also missing.

“Does Miss Customer still want a copy of the video?” The guide said from beside the springs, with the camera pointed right at her.

A deep, guttural growl started in Ranma’s throat, and she slowly looked up at the panda who was wearing her father’s dougi and glasses. Genma noticed the feral look in her eyes and correctly judged that he should make a hasty exit, as Ranma let loose a terrific battle cry and leapt straight for her father murder on her mind. The guide followed their deft movements with his camera, amazed at how they managed to stay atop the poles despite their new forms until finally the panda leapt down from them and started running through the haze that surrounded the valley, the red-headed girl hot on his tail.

= = = = = =

Sunday, February, 1989, 12:34 P.M. (14:34)
Dai-Nippon Teikoku, Honshu
Edo, Tendō Dōjō
Front Yard

= = = = = =

Soun Tendō stared up at the clouds, a lit pipe perched in his mouth and his arms folded behind his back. Things had changed much over the past four years, since he and his family had stopped traveling the world to stay in Edo. After getting re-evaluated for his teaching license in '84, he had re-opened the Tendo Dojo and began accepting students, most of whom did not take The Art seriously enough for his tastes, instead placing other, frivolous things above it - pampered city children, every one of them. As it was, his daughters – well, two of them anyway - had long since gotten full of themselves since no one around was at their level; the only one that came close was that Tatewaki boy at their school, and he still lost to Akane two times out of three.  

What the girls really needed was for someone to come and humble them. Though he hadn’t allowed the last four years off of the road to put a damper on their training, having seen no reason to stop just because they were no longer being pursued – after all, his school did need an heir – but the loss of their second teacher, their mother, had definitely been detrimental. Though Yuki had considered Kasumi as having mastered their style of ninjutsu, it didn’t mean that she had been ready to teach it to her sisters. She did what she could, but lacking any teaching experience, was unable to get the desired result.

Top if off with the fact that Nabiki had never been too keen on The Art or Ninjutsu in the first place, and you had a recipe for disaster. While Kasumi was okay, the younger two’s egos would lead to embarrassing defeats, quite possibly at an inopportune moment. At first, he’d sought to train another student to their level, but the city children had been one disappointment after another for him.

‘Hmm, perhaps I’m going about this the wrong way. I could have them challenge other dojos,’ He thought. ‘Yes, that’s right. I’ve heard good things about the Ryozanpaku Dojo lately. Something about finally finding a worthy disciple. If only I were so fortunate.’ The man sighed and inhaled the fumes from his pipe, before exhaling a cloud of smoke in the shape of a woman in a kimono before dissipating. ‘Oh, Yuki… if only you were still here. Sometimes I fear I cannot do this on my own.’

The sound of footsteps in the distance caught his attention and he looked down from the sky in time to see the mail man walking across the stone path through his yard with a post card in hand.

“Ah, hello, Tendo-san,” The young man said pleasantly upon spotting the martial artist, holding up the post card.

“Hm,” The older man nodded his own greeting and accepted the card, and the mail man went on his way. When he looked down, he saw an image of a panda eating bamboo. ‘All the way from Toudo?’

When he saw who it was from, a wide grin spread on his face.

- - - - -

Tendo Dojo

Dojo Interior

- - - - -

Two girls sat in the dojo, though they were both in completely different states – one wore a yellow dogi, was covered in sweat and trying to regulate her breath, while the other lazily sat off to the side, nursing a bottle of soda pop through a straw and wearing short shorts and a tank-top that was sliding off of one shoulder.

“Come on, why won’t you spar with me?” The girl in the yellow dogi asked, looking over at the girl who was watching her.

“Oh please, don’t start that up again,” The other girl said with a roll of her eyes.

“Fine, since you’re gonna be that way… why don’t I make it interesting for you?”

The girl with the soda blinked, noticing a twinkle in the other’s eye.

“Interesting?” She asked.

“The loser does the winner’s laundry for a week.”

The girl with the soda narrowed her eyes in consideration.

“And cleans her room?”

The one in the dogi gulped.

“Fine.”

“You got yourself a deal,” The soda drinking girl said, setting her soda down and standing up. She briefly stretched and popped the bones in her neck before approaching the girl in the gi. “You know I like extra fabric softener in my clothes, right?”

“Quit acting like you’ve already won,” The one in the gi snorted, standing up and waiting for the other one to join her.

“Oh please, this’ll be over fast.” The other stopped once close enough and the two stared at each other for a moment.

On an unheard signal, they both moved, launching towards the other in a blur.

“Girls!”

Their father’s voice surprised them enough for them both to painfully crash into each other and fall to the ground. The girls groaned and sat up while their father walked into the dojo.

“I have great news!” The man announced. “An old friend of mine is returning from an extended training trip with his son to stay with us for an indefinite amount of time!”

The two girls blinked at each other and then their father in annoyance as he approached them.

“Is that some sort of joke?” Nabiki demanded, frowning.

“Mm, no,” Soun said, shaking his head. “Pretty sure that’s what he said, anyway.”  

“Um… who is he?” Akane asked.

“Ah, yes,” The man said. “His name is Saotome Genma. He and I trained under the same master many years ago, before I had to run away with your mother.”

“Oh?” Akane asked, raising an eyebrow. “He’s part of our school?”

“Well,” Soun started, “he and I learned the same style, but given the amount of time that’s passed since we were last able to meet, our styles are bound to differ in some way by now.”

“Right,” Nabiki said. “I’m more concerned about this ‘son’ you mentioned. What’s his name? Is he any good?”

“His name is Ranma. As for how good he is, how would I know?” Soun asked. “He’s Genma’s son, and he’s been training on his life, so I’m sure he is, but I’ve yet to see the boy myself.” The man explained with a shrug.

“I see,” Nabiki said with a disappointed sigh. “So when are they coming, anyway?”

“Hmm, not sure. The postcard is marked a week ago,” He said, retrieving said postcard from his own dogi. “Knowing Genma, it could be any day n-” The sound of a crash in the distance made them all look towards the door that lead from the dojo to the street and something that sounded suspiciously like a large animal crying out in pain.

“Take that, you dirty, double-crossing panda!” They heard a girl yell out. Curiosity getting the better of all three, they stood up and started walking towards the door. Akane opened it and saw a red-headed girl in foreign clothing standing over a panda lying on the ground and holding a manhole cover high over her head. She carelessly tossed the manhole cover to the side where it landed with a loud clang and wobbled about before settling to the ground. Nabiki whistled in appreciation at the show of strength.

“Um… did she just hit the panda with the manhole cover?” Akane asked. “And aren’t those things… an endangered species? What is there one doing outside of a zoo, anyway?”

“That’s a very good question,” Soun said with a frown as he walked out to the street before calling out to the redhead. “You there! What’s going on here?”

“Huh?” The red-headed girl looked over at him and blinked. “Oh, uh, er…” She looked down at the panda on the ground and then back up at him. “I’m disciplining my pet panda! He uh, tried to eat my lunch again!”

Nabiki and Akane looked at each other.

“Can pandas eat human food?” Akane asked.

“Beats me,” The older sister said with a shrug. They both turned back to see the girl nervously laugh and scratch her head.

“Heh heh heh! Yeah, no need to worry about this! We fight like this all the time, he’ll get right back up in a jiffy!” The girl said. Little did she know, however, the panda was already back up on its feet and slowly, quietly approaching her from behind.

“I see,” Soun said with a nod. “A girl with a trained Panda… you wouldn’t happen to be from the western continent, would you?” He asked. Nabiki and Akane watched the panda intently as it reared back its mighty paw.

“Hm? Oh no, I uh, just sorta picked him up on a trip there-” The girl never got to finish her sentence as the panda slammed its paw into the back of her head at full force. It connected with the base of her skull and the force of its punch sent her flying forward, where she landed face down on the pavement. She didn’t move or speak after that, and the three martial artists eyes widened in surprised as they realized what had just happened.

“It knocked her out in one shot,” Akane muttered.

“A panda that knows martial arts?” Nabiki blinked several times as she tried to come to terms with what had just happened. “Huh.”

They all continued watching as the panda suddenly pulled a sign and marker from … nowhere they could see, and started writing. In moments, the panda flipped the sign over to face them and they noticed something written in hastily scrawled Japanese, once again shocking them.

/If it’s not too much trouble, do you think you could get us some hot water?/

“The panda can write,” Akane muttered.

“It’s probably just a trick she taught it.” Soun pointed out.

“Well, regardless, the thing is asking us for hot water.” Nabiki said.

“What’s it want hot water for?” Akane muttered.

“How should I know?” Nabiki snapped back.

“Umm… right.” Akane looked over at the Panda. “Um, Panda-san,” She started out tentatively, “Why don’t you come into our dojo? You can let your friend rest inside while I heat up some water, okay?” She said.

The panda nodded and walked over towards the red headed girl on the ground, then hefted her over its shoulder and started walking towards them.

“Well, looks like it understood us,” Akane said. “So I’ll let you two entertain our guest while I go heat up some water.”

Nabiki and Soun looked at each other and then at the approaching Panda.

-=-=-=-

The two Tendos sat before the panda and the unconscious girl in an awkward silence as they waited for Akane to return.

“So uh… what else can you do?” Nabiki asked, looking at the Panda.

The panda just looked at her for a moment, before summoning the sign and marker from who knows where and very quickly writing up another message. It flipped the sign over and they both read the writing.

“We’ll see when you get the hot water?” She shrugged. “Fair enough, I guess,” Nabiki said.

“I wonder, just how much time and effort had to be put into something like this. That girl must really love her Panda,” Soun said.

The Panda shuddered for a moment, and they both blinked. It looked as if it was… laughing?

“Here we are! Sorry for making you wait, Panda-san!” Akane called out before walking back into the dojo from the house with a mug of steaming hot water.

Everyone turned to look at her as she approached the group in the center of the dojo. It accepted the mug and almost instantly upended its contents over itself.

Not a second later in the Panda’s place sat a full grown human being, of stocky build, with a bandana over his head and glasses on his eyes.

The three Tendos simply stared at him for a moment before simultaneously fainting.

Genma sighed as he looked down at his old friend.

“Well, that went smoother than I’d thought it would.”

= = = = = = = = = = =

= = = = = = = = = = =

In 1628, With reconstruction well underway in Japan, the Tokugawa Bakufu set its eye on foreign lands. China had suffered more loss than any other in the war, despite its large population and resultant pool of soldiers. While the Chinese peasants, their crops ruined, fought amongst themselves for what little scraps of food they could find, remaining Chinese warlords, whose loyalties were split, broke into dispute over the succession of the imperial throne, and infighting broke out. For the first time in centuries, the Middle Kingdom segmented, each warlord laying claim to the region they had been assigned by the previous emperor.

While the Chinese warlords fought amongst themselves, their armies weak and disorganized from the war and resulting famine, the Tokugawa Bakufu set to reconstructing its own nation. The damage Japan suffered was not nearly as great as the massive ‘Middle Kingdom’, and many Japanese lords thought to take advantage of the situation by expanding into the Chinese Mainland and claiming valuable land and resources.

In 1629, With the reconstruction going well, the Shogun gave in to his advisors and mobilized the Japanese Army once again, sending them on a mission to conquer what they could. The weakened Chinese warlords quickly fell to the highly organized and comparatively massive Japanese Army. Seeing the new threat at hand, the remaining warlords came to an agreement and forged a pact of mutual assistance while moving further west into Tibetan and Middle Eastern land, to unite once again as the Middle Kingdom, but with each warlord governing their own sector, and the emperor to serve only as a figurehead. The Japanese Army’s march halted only after so much land had already been claimed in the name of its home country, as the newly formed Chinese Confederate Army met it in Lanzhou. After an extended clash in which it became clear that the Japanese were not going to lose any of the ground they had gained, nor would they advance any further on the Confederation, a treaty was finally proposed and signed by the leaders of both nations.

In 1630, Japan and the Confederation set to reconstruction of the now split Middle Kingdom. Japan made use of the Chinese there and were able to lower crime with the presence of the Army. Chinese men and women were set to working farms, and Japanese lords soon began immigrating to the new territory to claim what land they could for themselves. Over the next few decades, the Japanese expanded, conquering countries around their newly claimed territory, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, half of Mongolia, Korea, and even some of Russia. In the following centuries they expanded even further, annexing Indonesia to the south, and Aotearoa, to the far south-east of an island continent that had been mostly claimed by Brittish by the time of their arrival.

In 1839, Western countries had begun to establish trade with the two major Eastern powers, Japan and China. The Japanese Bakufu declared a lack of need for western goods, including its technology and knowledge, claiming the only thing necessary was Japanese tradition. Many lords became dissatisfied with the state of things, seeing westerners with powerful new age weaponry such as guns or canons. Dispute rose up when the westerners demanded that the Japanese open up for trade. The Emperor, seeking to reclaim the power of head of government for the imperial family, gathered loyalists and seeded further dissent around the country. In several years, all of Japan’s problems, foreign and domestic, were made to rest on the shoulders of the Bakufu, including the secondary citizen class system that had been enacted, lowering non-pureblood Japanese to the level of the burakumin.

In 1849, Civil War broke out in Japan between the Imperialists and those loyal to the Bakufu.

In 1858, The war ended after 9 years of fighting, with the Meiji Emperor standing as the victor. The emperor simultaneously began reconstruction of his country and opened trade with the western powers, including the European Alliance and the Atlantic Union. The Chinese Republic, which had already opened trade with the west, had been planning to retake land lost to the Japanese centuries before, and grew bitter when the Japanese Empire began to industrialize itself at a pace unmatched by any other country before it.