Neko by Mark Doherty (mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au) Chapter 6: The Neko-Ken. Characters are the property of Takahashi Rumiko. I deserve to be thrown in the spring of drowned ferret for even thinking of using them. Please don't sue me, I am but a poor and penniless student. Anyone who has read any of my previous alternifics should know that I never change just one curse, so read on at your discretion... C&C's are welcome, wanted and not wasted on me. My conventions explained: - The suffix -kun is used to denote a character's cursed male form. No suffix indicates that the person isn't in their cursed form. If someone turns up with a girl curse, they'll get the -chan suffix. Animal curses are denoted by the name of the animal as a suffix. After a couple of times, animal suffixes will probably usually be shortened to the first letter. For example, Henry-Mockingbird, or Henry-M after the first couple of times the name is used in a scene. - Just to be REALLY annoying, a cat curse will be denoted by a -Neko suffix. So, Ralf-Neko for example. - <> Denotes Chinese. - [] Denotes thoughts. - ** Is animal speak when used without quotes, and is sound effects within quotes. For example: *Hello.* the duck quacked. And: "*sigh*" she sighed. - {} Are Panda signs. "Cruel, but composed and bland, Dumb, inscrutable and grand, So Tiberius might have sat, Had Tiberius been a cat." - Poor Matthias by Matthew Arnold. ********************* It was a silent dinner at the Tendo's house. Both Ranma and Ukyou were unusually quiet after they returned from the dojo, and their silence seemed to spread to the others. "So, Ranma, you turn into a cat?" Akane asked in an attempt to talk to this silent boy. "No." Ranma stated, simply. "I don't." Genma just rolled his eyes as he made a grab for some of the food in Ranma's bowl. Nabiki rose an eyebrow. [Really?] she thought. [Then you won't be worried if I do this.] She bumped her glass of water, causing it to tip over and spill its contents towards Ranma's hand. Ranma saw the liquid rushing towards him, and jerked his hand off the table at an incredible speed. He eyed the pooling water nervously as he edged around the table a little. "So if you're not cursed, why would a little water worry you?" Nabiki asked simply. "I... um... it's not because I'm cursed." Ranma recovered. "Pop used some sort of weird technique on me when he changed into a panda. Makes me black out when cold water hit me." Everyone else, except for Genma, looked at Ranma to see if he seriously believed what he was saying. [He can't honestly believe that, can he?] Nabiki thought to herself. "Come now, Ranma, do you know how silly that sounds?" "It is not 'silly'. And I am _not_ a cat." Ranma grated. Akane sighed. "Leave him alone sis. Can't you see he doesn't want to talk about it?" Soun nudged Genma. "Look at her come to his defence, Saotome. They're already acting like a married couple." "A match made in heaven." Genma agreed grandly, before he snatched some more food. "Oh! You do care for him." Kasumi sighed. Ukyou said nothing, listlessly picking at her food. She hadn't said much since she had come form the dojo, she was apparently thinking about some things. Nabiki smirked at the flustered expression on her younger sister's face. "It's not like that." Akane said as she shook her head in disgust. [Show a little pity because he has a curse and see how everyone acts. Unbelievable.] Ranma looked at the young girl who had defended him. Outwardly, he did nothing. But inwardly, he smiled. At least she seemed nice enough, even if he didn't really want to be in this engagement. ********************* As Kasumi started to clear away the dishes from dinner, the two fathers decided to engage in conversation. "Anyway, Saotome, we set up the guest room for you and Ranma, treat it as your own." Soun said after a short while of swapping stories. "Why thank you." Genma replied. "It'll be good to sleep under a roof." "Say, where's Ukyou going to sleep?" Nabiki asked. Soun blinked. "Uhh... he could always sleep in the guest room with the Saotomes." he suggested as he started to regret letting Akane talk him into accepting the mysterious okonomiyaki boy as a house guest. "I don't think that would be a good idea." Ranma said nervously, thinking about spending the night in the same room as a girl. Ukyou looked up. "I don't want to impose on you." she said. "I've still got my camping gear from the trip, I'll just find a spare lot to set up on." "That wouldn't be fair on you." Akane protested. "There has to be some other thing we could try." "And what do you suggest Akane?" Soun asked. "We're not really set up for many guests." "Ummm..." Akane said as she desperately thought for a solution. ********************* Akane and Ukyou looked at the small tent that they had set up near the koi pond, in the yard of the Dojo. It was an old travelling tent that Soun had kept over from his training days. "I'm sorry about this." Akane said, embarrassed, as she looked at Ukyou. "We just don't have much room for guests." Ukyou waved away Akane's apologies. "It's alright." she assured. "Hey, after three months on the road I can handle this easy. Besides, I think I prefer this. I've got some thinking to do, and out here it just seems easier to do. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Akane nodded, before she said "Goodnight." After Ukyou stepped into the small tent, Akane walked back into the house, up the stairs and into her room. She closed the door, changed into her pyjamas, and then sat down on her bed. From nearby, she heard someone walk into the Saotome's room. Probably Ranma, since his father had, after a short talk with Akane after dinner, gone to bed early. Akane sighed. Three months in pursuit of one man, and the first day she finds him she couldn't even work up the nerve to talk to him in private. It just hadn't felt right, not after the emotions she had exhausted in telling her family about her curse. "Tomorrow." she promised herself. "I'll talk to him tomorrow." Akane sighed as she lay down on a proper bed for the first time in three months. She reached under her pillow, and pulled out a small throwing spatula that she had put there when she had unpacked. She sighed again, before she replaced the utensil under the pillow, and closed her eyes. ********************* Ranma sighed as he slowly lay down on his futon, ignoring the snores of his already asleep father who was on the neighbouring futon. What a day. First he was told by his father that he had been engaged to some girl he'd never met, and then he'd had one of those 'episodes' he got whenever cold water hit him. Damn Pop. Ranma didn't know what his father had done to him, to make him black out when he was hit by water, but he did know that this 'cat' thing that Genma kept going on about was a lie. No way was he a cat. No way. Ranma snorted as he looked at his sleeping father. Finding out the truth about Ukyou made it even easier to realise that his father was a liar. [How could you do that to Ucchan, Pop? Leaving her behind, especially after agreeing to an eng... oh no.] Ranma thought, his eyes going wide as full realisation hit him. [Oyaji you idiot! You've engaged me to two girls! And I can't even talk it out to both of them because I promised Ucchan that I wouldn't tell Akane that she's a girl. Aw man...] Ranma groaned. He was too tired for this. And so he closed his eyes, and let sleep slowly take him. Dreams invaded his soul. ********************* About eleven years ago... Just outside a small house, a woman with reddish brown hair, who was dressed in a formal kimono, hugged a very young Ranma to her. The woman cried as Genma looked on in slight embarrassment. "I'll miss you so." the woman sobbed as she pulled Ranma away from her so that she could take a good like at him. "Awww Mooom." Ranma whined, embarrassed by his mother's emotions. "I'll be fine. Pop'll look after me." Ranma's mother nodded. "I know dear." she said. "I have his promise on that." Genma cleared his throat nervously. "Well. Yes. It's time for us to go." Ranma disengaged himself from his mother's grip before he looked at her with an happy expression. "Bye bye Mom." he said. His mother smiled back, wiping away her tears. "Now you do what your father tells you." she said. "I want you to grow up into a true man." Ranma nodded, his young mind not really understanding. The woman looked at Genma. "How long?" she asked simply. Genma shrugged. "It will take time." he admitted. "Years. But once I am satisfied, we will return. I'll make him into something we can be proud of Nodoka-chan. You have my promise on that." Nodoka nodded as she clutched at a piece of paper folded into her belt. "Yes, I do." she said. "And I promise to practice with the blade every day, husband, so that if grim chance takes hold and you cannot fulfil that promise, then I shall at least make our reparations honourable. And mercifully swift." Genma gulped. "But I'm sure that such precautions will be completely unnecessary." Nodoka continued, oblivious to Genma's reaction. "You will raise our son to be a fine man." Genma nodded solemnly before he looked at his son. "Come on son. It's time to go." Ranma grinned as he followed his father out onto the road. He looked back at his mother once and waved, before he ran to catch up with Genma. The realisation that he wouldn't be seeing his mother for quite a while hadn't really impacted on the young boy yet. No, for now at least, the excitement of the possible adventures ahead overrode all else. A while later... "Pop..." a six year old Ranma said hesitantly. "What is it son?" Genma asked as he ran along. "Why have we got the yatai?" Ranma asked from where he was sitting on top of the Kuonji yatai, which Genma was pulling along. "Never mind son." Genma answered. "You're too young to understand." Ranma remained silent for a while before he piped up again. "Pop... I miss Ucchan." "Don't be weak boy." Genma replied gruffly. "Soon enough you won't even remember your little friend." "But I miss him." Ranma replied, blinking back tears as the thought of never seeing his best friend finally hit him full force. Genma sighed. "Be a man Ranma. I miss your mother, I miss some of my old friends, Tendo for example. But for the moment I cannot see them because I have devoted my time to training you. Do you see me complain though? No. You should act no less manly." [Your life may depend on it one day.] he grimly thought to himself. Ranma nodded. He couldn't disappoint his father. If his dad wanted him to be manly, then he could be no less. Nothing would unman him. Nothing. Eventually... In a stingy old house, Genma stood near Ranma, who now appeared to be about ten or eleven years old. Ranma was dressed in a white gi, as was usual for the young boy. What was unusual, however, were the fish sausages that were tied around and all over him. The two martial artists were standing next to a dark opening in the floor, from which came the occasional hiss. Perhaps there was a leaky gas line down there. "Are you sure about this?" Ranma asked doubtfully as he tugged at the meat bits that were tied around his young frame. "Of course I'm sure." Genma responded as he held up a small manual. "The technique is outlined in this book. It's sure to work." "But I..." Ranma began. "Trust me son." Genma said. Ranma looked up at his father. "Ok Pop. I trust you." "Good. In you go." Genma said as he slapped Ranma on the back, causing the young boy to overbalance and fall through the floor opening into the dark pit below. Dozens of starved cats looked at this new addition to their lair for a moment, before their sensitive noses picked up the scent wafting off the young boy. Food. Glorious food. The felines were in no condition to deny the call their delicate noses gave them. They were hungry, so hungry. And this new thing in their dwelling smelt of so much food. With howls and yowls and screeches, cat after cat after cat pounced on Ranma, scratching, clawing, biting, doing anything to grab a part of the fish food that called out to their hungry stomaches. Ranma tried throwing them off, fighting back, he tried anything he could. But there were too many cats, his strength was insufficient, he just couldn't do it. He was overwhelmed. Bite, swipe, feel the many scratches sear. Yowl, howl, watch the birth of fear. Slish, slash, red hot slivers of pain. Scritch, scratch, he'll never be the same... Genma waited until the howling died down a little before he reached into the pit and grabbed for the dim outline of his son. He pulled Ranma out before he said "Well? Did it work? Did you learn the technique?" Ranma didn't respond. His face was white, which made the blood that oozed from the various deep scratches that the cats had made all the more stark. His eyes were wide and unseeing, and his teeth were chattering involuntarily. His clothes were wrecked, the cats had, in their feeding frenzy, treated Ranma like little more than a living scratching post. "Ranma?" Genma asked as he saw the state of his son. "Is there something wrong?" "C...ca...cats." Ranma stuttered. "N...no." Genma blinked. What was wrong with his son? Here he had tried to teach Ranma one of the most powerful techniques ever devised, a technique so rare that some thought it only legend, and something had gone wrong. But what? Genma pulled out the book that he had referred to. "Let's see..." he muttered as he flicked through the manual. Nearby, Ranma twitched as he heard some of the cats fight over some of the fish sausages. "'Neko-Ken... powerful... wrap food around body... toss into pit of hungry cats...' Well, I did all that!" Genma muttered as he read through the relevant page. He paused for a few moments, trying to think what had gone wrong. "Maybe there's something on the next page..." Genma mused after a short period of silence. "After all, I never did get round to reading that far." He flipped the page, and read on. "Hmm... 'Of course, only a complete idiot would actually try this dangerous and foolhardy training method.' WHAT!? This wasn't meant to work in the first place!? What sort of moron puts a warning like that on the next page?" Genma slammed the book down onto the floor. "Blast! Such a simple mistake. Anyone could have fallen for it." He sighed, before he looked at his son with slight disgust. "To think that a son of mine could show such craven fear." he said. "I won't have it." Genma cupped his chin with his hand as he looked at his quivering son. "But how shall I get him to overcome his cowardice?" he mused. There were several howls from the covered cat pit, which caused the almost catatonic Ranma to shudder. "Ah... of course." Genma said. "The best way to defeat fear is to face it." A bit later... Ranma, clad in a fresh gi, was standing near the cat pit. His scratches had been cleaned up so well that it almost looked like he had fully healed. This time, dried sardines were liberally tied to him. He was looking at the opening to the pit with nervousness on his face. "Pop..." he said hesitantly. "I don't wanna go back in there..." "Nonsense my boy." Genma said calmly. "We can't have you left like this. How can you be a great martial artist if you fear something as minor as a cat? You have to overcome this fear, lest it destroy you later on. So get in there..." he said as he calmly threw his son into the pit, "...and hurry up and get over this!" Yellow eyes gleamed as once again, a new arrival entered the lair. And once again, the visitor had come with... food! Food to feed the starving stomach, food to sate the many who had not managed to garner more than a scrap from the first feeding, food!!! Ranma recovered from his small fall almost instantly, stood, and then tried to back up against a wall so that he'd have some chance against the animals that surrounded him. But he had no chance. Barely had he stood before the cats jumped all over him, biting and gnawing at the food tied all over him. With a cry, the young boy overbalanced from the weight of the starved-crazy animals, and fell over. It proved to be all the impetus that the cats who had not instantly attacked needed. They joined in, darting at the young boy, grabbing at what food they could, scratching and clawing their way to whatever crumbs they could get. Ranma cried out as once again he felt the deep bite of the cats claws. Pain... Genma waited for a few minutes, before he nodded. [That should be enough time for the boy to get over this thing.] he thought as he reached into the pit, felt around, and grabbed his son. Ranma trembled as his father finally hauled him out of the cat pit. His clothes were no better than rags, there were small bits of sardine still hanging off him and he was covered from head to toe in hundreds of angry red scratches. Some of the cats had dug deep with their claws in their mad need for food. "You ok son?" Genma asked as he set Ranma down next to the pit. "You over that fear yet?" "C... ca... ca..." Ranma whimpered. Genma sighed. "Well, if at first you don't succeed..." he muttered to himself as he cleaned up his son's wounds. Apparently he'd be needing to go to the butchers again... Later on, Ranma was again before the cat pit, this time with salted sardines tied around him. "I... I don't want to do this Pop. Don't make me go in there again." Ranma pleaded as he looked at his father. "Don't worry Ranma. You're on your way to a cure." Genma replied as he gently booted his son into the pit. Ranma screamed, involuntary tears dripping from his eyes, as he fell into his own private hell. Several of the cats blinked as yet again the moving food bearer dropped amongst them. Some of the cats who had still not managed to grab any of the previous food licked their chops, before the feline horde pounced again on the hapless boy. Fear... Genma finished off an orange he had been eating as he waited for Ranma to develop a resistance to his cat fear. "Come on son." he muttered to himself as he walked over to the hole over the cat pit. "You can do it." He reached in, fished around, and picked out his son. Some might wonder why none of the cats were swiping at the martial artist whenever he did this, but Genma did have some forethought. He had coated his arm with a scent that cats couldn't stand, but, thankfully for anyone nearby, didn't affect humans too much. "You cured yet?" Genma asked as he lifted his son out. Ranma's eyes were screwed shut, in an instinctive reflex to save the delicate orbs from being scratched out. He was shivering, and didn't appear to be in any mood to stop any time soon. His gi was, yet again, little more than a rag after the frenzy of the cats. His skin hadn't fared much better, he was covered from head to toe in claw and tooth wounds, from small scratches to deep, dangerous cuts. Small strips of string hung on his body, some of which still bore bits of sardine. Genma leant a little closer to his son when he heard his son making a soft sound. His eyes widened when he realised what it was. His son was whimpering. Ranma was still afraid of cats. "I can't give up!" Genma swore. "This cure has to work, it's the only way I can think of to get him over this fear. It just needs a bit more time to take effect, to get him over this cowardice." Soon enough, Ranma was before the pit again, in yet another fresh gi, this time with fish cakes wrapped around him. Ranma was slowly edging his way away from the pit when Genma lay a fatherly hand on his shoulder. "I c...can't go in there again." Ranma whispered. "Buck up son. This time you'll be cured for sure." Genma assured Ranma as he tossed the boy into the pit. With a thud, Ranma landed in the pit again. This time, he instantly curled up into a ball, hoping against hope that this would stop the pain, stop the cats, stop it all. The little tidbits of food the cats had managed to grab had not sated their hunger. And so, when they saw that again there was food to be had, they pounced from their hiding places in the darkness. Darkness... Biting, tearing, clawing, scratching, hissing, yowling, howling, meowing, starved cats surrounded the young boy, climbing all over him, in the dark of the pit. Tears flowed from the boys eyes as he thrashed about, trying to dislodge the beasts. Pain... fear... darkness... Again and again and again the cats tore into Ranma, desperate for some food. Ranma screwed his eyes shut, trying to shut off his senses, trying to escape from the pain, trying to escape from the fear. Pain... fear... darkness... a prelude to death... A point of no return was reached. Fear that had built itself on fear, that had, in turn built itself on yet more fear finally became too much to bear. Ranma's eyelids twitched as his mind screamed, his last shred of innocence died. A young mind retreated within itself, desperately grasping onto something, _anything_ that would save it from the horror it was experiencing. Pain... fear... darkness... experiences of birth... Suddenly, surely, the grasping tendrils of a mind half-mad from fear clicked onto something. Defence mechanisms that were controlled by the subconscious at best, or nothing at worst, kicked in. The mind found a way to survive. Pain. Fear. Darkness. And then... rebirth. Something new was born. It opened its eyes, looked around at its fellow captives for a moment and then did something that sent a chill through all the cats present. "Mreowl..." it grumbled. The cats surrounding this strange creature started to back away, sensing the danger they faced. The newly born entity glared at its smaller enemies. And then... it hissed. Above the pit, Genma put down the newspaper he had been reading when he heard the cats below start to yowl in terror. "Eh?" he said as he started to walk towards the hole that gained access to the cat pit. Before he could reach the hole, however, a column of cats literally exploded out of the pit entrance. As Genma watched, open-mouthed, a blurred figure, larger than any of the cats, shot out of the pit. The figure skidded to a halt near Genma and sat down on its haunches. Then it meowed quizzically. "Ranma?" Genma asked, stunned to see that the creature that had moved with such incredible speed was his son. Ranma looked at his father before he meowed again and raised his right hand in a gesture similar to that of a beckoning cat. "That stance..." Genma breathed as he looked at his son. "It's true! That's the Neko-Ken stance! You've learnt it boy! Well done!" Ranma blinked once before he raised himself into a position similar to that of a cat standing, using his hands as a cat would its forepaws. He stared at his father for a second, before he hissed menacingly. "Uh... son? I don't think there's any need for such theatrics..." Genma said nervously as he saw the feral grin that was spreading over Ranma's face. Ranma responded by hissing again, before he launched himself at his father. Outside, a young mother and father, who were taking their small daughter for a walk, sped up their pace when they heard the mixed screams of several cats and one human. "Really, they should ban those martial artists from living in town." the father muttered as they hurried away from the noisy property. The mother nodded in agreement as the daughter looked back at the house. Then the daughter giggled and pointed back at the house. "Mama, look at silly man run screaming." she said. "Yes, yes dear." the mother said impatiently, not looking back. "Now come on." Later on... "Nice kitty." an old woman said calmly as she slowly stroked the back of the creature that rested, purring, in her lap. Ranma yawned once, before he fell asleep in the old woman's lap. He was still purring. Genma walked out of his hiding place. "Amazing." he said to himself as he looked at his sleeping son. "To think that his animalistic temper could be stopped by one old woman. It's just lucky that she's too senile to realise that Ranma's not a real cat." "I ain't that old, sonny." the old woman said sharply as she looked up. "And I ain't that far gone either. We've been neighbours for a month now, and you've been better than some neighbours I've had. I like your son here. He's a nice boy. Reminds me of my son, before he left for the war. When you get to be my age, you start to recognise some truths. I knew the boy here wasn't acting about being a cat, when he bounded into my yard just before. He really thinks he's a cat. What happened to him?" Genma cleared his throat. "Ahh... training accident." he explained. The old woman was about to reply when Ranma woke from his small sleep. He was no longer purring. Genma looked at his son nervously. Ever since his son had taken on a cat's attitude, he had been most vicious towards his father. That's ingratitude for you though. "What happened?" Ranma asked simply when he saw his father. He blinked, before he realised he was sitting in their neighbour's lap, the old woman who had been so kind to him over the last month, offering him sweets and talking to him, telling him fun tales of Japan from decades ago. She was like the grandmother he had never had. "I'm sorry!" he said, scrambling out of her lap. "I... I don't know what I was doing there." The old woman chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Tell me, young man, do you remember what happened?" Ranma thought about it. "I remember cats. I remember...no. Cats are the last thing I can remember, in that pit at our house." "You don't remember anything else?" Genma prompted. When Ranma shook his head, Genma cupped his chin. "Amazing. You didn't remember acting like a cat?" "What? Why would I act like a cat?" Ranma asked, confused. "Perhaps your fear of cats became so great that you felt you had to become a cat in order to survive your training." Genma mused. "Still, at least one good thing came out of this regrettable incident. You learned the Neko-Ken son!" Ranma blinked again, before he turned to the old woman. "Is... is it true? Was I acting like a cat?" The old woman nodded, confirming Genma's tale. Ranma sighed and accepted the story. How could he not believe his father, and a woman he would have been glad to call his grandmother? About two months ago... Ranma ran his thumbs under the straps of his large backpack to ease the load as he stared at the treacherous mountain path that he and his father were about to use. "Are ya sure about this Pop?" Ranma asked his father as he looked at the dubious road. "Trust me son." Genma answered. "Apparently Jusenkyo is just beyond this mountain." "What's so special about this site anyway?" Ranma asked in a slightly bored tone. "I mean, we certainly went out of our way to get here." Genma blinked. "Because it was mentioned in the Martial Arts Sites brochure." he answered easily. "Only the most interesting, taxing or dangerous sites get their name and location in that thing." "How would you know that? I've seen that piece of paper, it's in Chinese. Last time I checked you couldn't read Chinese Pop." Ranma pointed out. "I can make out enough to have got us here boy." Genma said, cutting off further argument. "What more do we need know than the fact that it's considered important enough to list?" Ranma shrugged, not able to repudiate his father's claim. Besides, some of the other places that the brochure had led them to had been challenging, or at least interesting. Maybe this 'Jusenkyo' would be one of the good ones. Ranma sighed as he followed his father up the mountain path. Considering how far out of the way this place was, it'd better be something out of the ordinary... Not long after... "Fssssssssst!!!" Genma-Panda sighed as his son tried his best to turn him into panda chops. Luckily (depending on your point of view) Ranma was currently in his new cat form and, thanks to some old rope tricks Genma had learned long ago, quite incapable of doing much besides yowl. "Soon have you at village." the Guide said from next to the panda as they trudged along. It was the day after Genma and his son had been cursed in the springs and they, along with the Guide, were walking towards a local village to get some water. The Guide refused to explain why he didn't have any normal water back at the springs and Genma didn't press the point because a) It's hard to argue when you're a panda with no ability to talk like an human and b) the Guide had, for some reason, been close to a nervous breakdown when Genma had returned from being chased by his transformed son, and therefore not in a rational enough state to explain anything much. Genma-P nodded as he kept a tight grip on his tied-up, transformed son. It wasn't easy, thanks to the fact that Ranma-Neko continually thrashed around. And it didn't help that Genma-P was currently carrying not only his own pack but Ranma's as well. Eventually the human and two animals made it to a small village. The Guide pointed to the buildings, and was about to launch into a small speech about Amazon customs when he noticed that there seemed to be a lot of activity going on in the village. Genma-P gruffled a query as he and the Guide watched several women run by them, heading towards one of the better looking houses, possibly the residence of a town leader or respected family. Soon, some more people hurried by, while others rushed out of the house the others had gone into. Everyone seemed to be excited, they were animatedly chatting to each other as they walked. The Guide looked around as villagers ran to and fro. From the expression on the Guide's face, Genma-P surmised that this hectic running wasn't normal for the inhabitants of this outpost. "Strange. Very strange." the Guide muttered. "Why they all run round like this? Should all be at celebration for the end of annual competition, if this day I think it is." He turned to the panda, and politely said "Please, Mr Customer, please wait here. Must go and get some hot water and some food for your journey. Please don't do anything, people seem agitated for some reason." Genma-P nodded as the Guide walked off. Well, he certainly wasn't going to start any trouble, especially not with the people acting like something either really bad or really good had just happened. Genma-P looked around nervously as some of the less busy villagers looked at him and his son in curiosity. He hated the fact that he couldn't talk in this form. As soon as he got some time, he'd have to figure out a way to communicate as a panda. Right now, he really wished he could tell these people to stop looking at him. Hadn't they ever seen a panda carrying a small, tied-up cat before? "Wonder what that all about?" the Guide said as he returned to the two cursed martial artists. Genma-P gruffled a query. "Hmm?" the Guide said. "Oh, something happen in village." he explained as he led the panda out of the village. "People seemed quite excited. Couldn't even get proper explanation for what happened." Genma-Panda shrugged. Somehow, the problems of some small village didn't concern him too much right now. "Anyway." the Guide said after they cleared the small settlement. "I have to get back to springs. After way yesterday go there probably be hundred or so new cursed people today. Here, got you water and food from Amazons." He handed the panda a kettle full of water and a covered basket full of food that he had borrowed from the village. Genma juggled the items for a moment as he figured out how to carry two backpacks, a cat, a basket and a kettle. "Goodbye Mr Customer." the Guide said. "Hope you have no problem getting home." He bowed, before he walked off. Genma-P waved once to the Guide before he started walking in a different direction, looking for a nice and private place to change both him and his son back. It would probably be best not to do it too close to the village, especially the way those people had been acting. That night... With the splash of hot water, consciousness returned. Albeit slowly. "Wh... wha..." Ranma mouthed as his vision slowly came into focus. "What..." Nearby, Genma sighed in relief. It looked like the shock of turning back into an human had shaken his son out of his cat trance. It had been a long shot, back in the old days with the Neko-Ken, only an old neighbour had had the ability to bring Ranma out of the trance. But then, back then Ranma hadn't been in a cursed form. "Where..." Ranma said woozily. Apparently his mind didn't just jump back to normal after being in the cat state. With the Neko-Ken, although Ranma couldn't remember what he had done during the trance, when he did awake he was usually able to think normally right away. Perhaps the added horror of physically being a cat required that his mind slowed down Ranma's recovery of his human psyche. Ranma looked down at himself. "Wh... where are my clothes? Why... am I naked?" Genma silently handed Ranma his clothes. Ranma dressed mechanically, more the action of easy repetition than through conscious thought. After Ranma had dressed, Genma spoke up. "I'm sorry son. You fell into one of the Jusenkyo springs, just as I did." Genma said, his face heavy with sadness. "I... I did?" Ranma asked hesitantly. He tried to remember but his mind shied away from his Jusenkyo experience. "N...no. No. I didn't." "What!?" Genma shouted. "How can you deny it? Look at yourself, how do you explain how you got here? If you didn't fall in then what happened to you, eh?" "I dunno. I can't remember..." Ranma admitted as he thought about it. His mind shied away from the truth and he hesitantly repeated "I can't remember." "Well if you can't remember then how can you deny it?" Genma asked, exasperated. "Oh yeah? So if I fell into one of these springs then what do I turn into?" Ranma challenged angrily. "A monkey? A girl? Maybe a big fat panda like you!?" "Hah! You fell into a spring where a cat drowned." Genma retorted. "_That_ is what... you....turn..... son?" he trailed off as he saw the desperate denial on his son's face. "A c..cat? A Ca...CAT!?" Ranma growled. He tried to remember, tried to think back to the springs. But his mind was having none of it. To acknowledge being a cat would be too much for it. And so it sprang its defences. Ranma shook his head, before he clenched his fists. "I can't believe you'd lie to me like that Pop. Try and use my thing with ca... ca... cats to try and win an argument. I didn't fall into some spring where a ca... you know what drowned. I didn't." "Accept the truth Ranma!" Genma shouted. "It's one thing to have a weakness. But to not accept it is completely unforgivable! And to call your father a liar, just to save yourself some heartache... I think you should apologise." "Apologise!?" Ranma snarled. "APOLOGISE!?" His mind whirled and swirled and clicked onto an explanation, any explanation, even an untrue one, anything to save himself from a truth too ugly to bear. "Oh... I remember what happened now." he said. Genma blinked. "You do? Good, then you're on your way to healing. Acceptance is the first step in..." "_I_ remember you did something to me." Ranma cut in as he dropped into a fighting stance. "I remember that you did something to me that made me black out for a while. What was it? Some sort of new move? Pressure point? Or did that fat guy at the springs help you out?" Genma shook his head. "Unbelievable. You just don't get it, do you? You can't remember because you went into that cat state of yours. You never remember what you've done when you're in those trances! You turn into a cat. Accept it or else it will destroy you from the inside." "No. I am not." Ranma stated, his denial fuelling his rage. "I am not!" he yelled as he launched himself at his father, left foot ready for a kick. His father, too used to surprise attacks, managed to avoid the attack. The mind is a funny thing. It can do strange things when it is threatened. Its safety mechanisms are many and varied, and not fully understood. Be it making sure that a person couldn't remember a traumatic event, be it making sure that a person thought they were something they were not, in order to stop the fear of that thing, or be it simply making sure that a person couldn't accept a simple truth, the mind (in its sometimes unusual way) did what it did best. "I AM NOT A CAT!!!" Ranma raged, tears flowing from his eyes, as he fought his father, his anger allowing him to properly say that most hated word for once. The mind found a way to survive... Sometime later... With a hot splash, humanity returned once more. "Wh...at?" Ranma growled as he shook his head. "What happened this time!? Damn it, I must have blacked out again." "Shhh!" Genma hissed as he franticly placed one of his hands over Ranma's mouth. "You're too much of a handful as a cat, so I had to turn you back. She's nearby!" "She?" Ranma asked, his mind was still a bit foggy. Genma whopped his son over the back of the head with his free hand. "Wake up boy. You know who I'm talking about." He said as he took his hand off Ranma's mouth. Ranma rubbed the back of his head. "Ow..." he said, before memory kicked in. "SHE'S NEAR US!?" he shouted. "Shut up!!!" Genma hissed. "Ah ha!" a female voice rang out just as a nearby crate exploded from the impact of several weapons. "Found you at last!" the girl cried out from the top of a nearby building. "Time for the Saotome Secret Technique." Genma said calmly, before he ran away. Ranma blinked, before he ran after his father. "Pop..." Ranma began as they ran away from the raging woman. "What is it son?" Genma asked. "Why am I naked?" Ranma asked, doing his best to keep calm, despite the fact that he was running, naked, from a psychotic woman. Genma sighed and shook his head. "Here." he said, handing the boy his clothes. "Thanks." Ranma said as he dressed while they fled. "And I do not turn into a c...cat." Genma slapped his hand over his forehead. "Why me?" he asked as he dodged some weapons thrown by their pursuer. ********************* In our dreams, we face the truths we try to hide... Ranma blinked. "Where am I?" he asked the empty sky, as he looked around at the surrounding barren terrain. It was then that he felt the itching start. At first, it was only in his fingers. But rapidly, too rapidly, the itching started to spread. Ranma resisted the urge to look at his hands, instinct told him that he would not like what he saw. But instinct always played second fiddle to curiosity. And so Ranma looked at his hands. And then wished he hadn't. You know what they say curiosity killed... Ranma stared at his hands, with horror etched on his face. His hands were covered in fur and they were rapidly transforming into paws. On an intuition, he patted his ears. They certainly seemed more pointed than before. Ranma resisted the urge to sneeze as his cheeks started to itch. Soon, the reason for the itching became apparent as whiskers started to sprout out of his face. Then he felt something happening to his lower spine. With almost catatonic horror, he knew what it was without looking. It was a tail. He was turning into a cat. "Noooooo!!!" Ranma shouted as he shot up from the futon he had been sleeping on. He shivered from the cold sheen of sweat that covered him as he shakily looked at his normal, human hands. Then, just to make sure, he quickly patted his lower back. No tail. "Just a dream." he whispered to himself. "Only a dream." After taking some time to reassure himself, Ranma slowly lay down again on his futon. He lay there for hours, staring at the ceiling, until finally sleep slowly claimed him again. And then, so did the dreams. ********************* Kunou sat calmly in a largish bedroom. On the walls around were plastered many poster-sized photos of Akane, in various 'I do not know I am being photographed poses'. Kunou's eyes were closed as he sat before the honour sword of his family. "Tomorrow, beloved, we will reunite at last." Kunou promised. "Though I was unsuccessful in finding you in my journey across China, still you will be impressed by my dedication to you. And why would you not? For I know that behind that angry pose you show the world, you do truly love me. And I love thee. It is for this love that I give you this night to reunite with your family, so that you may be better prepared to finally publicly declare your love for me on the 'morrow." The kendoist sighed. "Truly, love is a paradox. For it is my love for you that makes me ache to hold you in my arms _now_, especially after so long a parting. But it is also my love for you that allows me to give you the time to recover from your epic quest. Ah, true love is truly grand." The young man thought back to his China trek. "I can't shake the feeling that I forgot something while I was over there." he mused to himself. Kunou opened one eye. Why was there the sound of squeaking coming from outside his room? He received his answer when the door to his room opened and several small brown furred creatures tumbled in. Kunou rose his head from looking at the sudden rodent infestation to see who had intruded on his domain. "Kodachi..." he breathed. [I knew I forgot something.] "Hello brother dear." the door opener, a young woman with long black hair tied back in a ponytail said as she looked at Kunou in amusement. For some reason, the girl was wearing a dark leotard, of the type used by gymnasts. "We need to have a little talk, you and I." Kodachi looked down at the lemming entourage that had preceded her. "Yes, we have much to discuss, dear Tatewaki. About many things." "It is good to see you that you are... ahhh... well, sister." Kunou said. "I lost track of you on our mutual sojourn." "Don't you mean... you left me behind?" Kodachi enquired as she rose an eyebrow. "So absorbed in your precious love that you forgot your own sister. Well, I'm sure I'll accept your apology." Kunou's pride kicked in. "I don't recall apologising, sister." The lemmings surrounding Kodachi all turned to look at him. Several of the small rodents started to squeak menacingly. "I'm sure you will, soon enough." Kodachi predicted as she closed the door behind her, ensuring complete privacy. She pulled a long yellow ribbon out of her leotard and twirled it around her body. "My entourage wouldn't stand for anything less." "Entourage?" Kunou said, confused. *Enough of this!* one of the lemmings squeaked. *Attack! Attack for our Queen!* He rushed towards the kendoist, and was quickly followed by his brethren. "Hohohohoho! Yes, my entourage." Kodachi smiled as the lemmings started to mob her brother, who was momentarily too shocked at the attack to fight back. "They're a fun bunch, aren't they?" Soon, the mixed sounds of maniacal laughter, pained screams and several squeaks drifted out of the Kunou mansion. Some of the closer neighbours sighed in relief. Obviously the Kunou mansion was occupied once more, after a long period of silent vacancy. Finally, things were back to normal... ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** Well, that's the end of Chapter 6. Be my guest and tell me what you think. Hmm, it took six chapters but the first night at the Tendos is finally done. Flashbacks will do that to you, I guess. Oh gods... that Neko-Ken flashback wasn't good for me. Comedy! Chapter 7 WILL BE MORE COMEDIC! I think everyone needs a break from the seriousness, especially after I put Ukyou's flashback right before Ranma's Neko-Ken one. Till next time.