Crossover Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Different Path ❯ Chapter 8

This story contains scenes of explicit sex, naughty words, and other horrible, offensive things.  If you are underage in your house, village, town, city, community, state, province, country, or continent: READ NO FURTHER!  If that type of thing offends your tender sensibilities, or you are stupid: READ NO FURTHER!  All characters are the copyright of their respective creators and/or owners; no copyright infringement is intended by this story.  Any resemblance to people, places, or situations alive, dead, or otherwise is purely coincidental.

 

A Different Path

 

Chapter 8

 

 

The Next Day, Sunday, Mid-Morning

 

This is definitely the place, Ranma thought his hands on his hips outside of the Buddhist temple set midway on the hillside overlooking Nerima. I can sense the same energy I thought I felt last night! After waking up early in the morning and gulping down a quick breakfast, the teenager had set off to check out the temples and shrines Nabiki had mentioned were in the area. After a couple of strike outs he now knew he had found the place he was looking for.

 

Walking through the gate of the wall surrounding the temple, Ranma quickly turned to the right, moving around the main building itself. There he found some steps leading upward which he followed. In no time at all he was at the entrance of what was clearly a training hall. Signs written in Japanese kanji, Chinese characters and Sanskrit all announced that this was a dojo dedicated to a Pencak Silat variety of martial arts. Ranma smiled and as he approached the door he could hear the sounds of practicing from within as well as feel the energy of the practitioners. Coming to the doors he slid one open with a loud `Clack' of wood hitting wood and then simply stood waiting just outside the entrance way.

 

The various people training inside the dojo, about twenty or so of them, slowly trailed off in their exercises as they realized someone had arrived. Within a few minutes one man who Ranma guessed to be in his mid-thirties came to the door and gave the teenager a questioning look.

 

“I'm Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts,” Ranma said formally as he gave a deep bow. “Please inform your Pendekar that I would like to speak with him. Or her. Whichever.”

 

“About what, if I may ask?” The man responded after returning the bow.

 

“I would like to challenge this dojo.”

 

The man raised his eyebrows at this simple response, but as no further comment was forthcoming he nodded his head and gestured for Ranma to stay where he was. As he made his way back deeper into the training hall Ranma could feel everyone's attention on him and hear them whispering to one another, but as that had been one of his main experiences as far back as he could remember it didn't unduly bother him. In a short time the man he had talked with returned and said, “Please follow me.” Ranma lightly kicked off his shoes before entering the dojo, gave a short bow as he stepped inside and then followed the man to the rear.

 

At the end of the dojo were the older students who had been practicing under the watchful eye of the dojo's Master, or Pendekar, as that position was often termed in the different Pencak Silat styles. Coming to a halt in front of a slight man who was probably in his late-fifties to early-sixties with darkly tanned skin, Ranma bowed respectfully. When he spoke the master had a slight accent to his Japanese, but then again, so too did Ranma due to his extended travels abroad. “So you wish to challenge my dojo, do you Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts?” The older man's voice was calm and commanding, Ranma could feel his authority in the very air around him.

 

“I do, Pendekar,” The teenager responded with another bow.

 

“To what purpose?”

 

“That you would teach me any skills you feel I am worthy of, Pendekar.”

 

The Pencak Silat Master mulled that over silently for a few moments before speaking again. “I wish to gauge your skills before deciding to accept your challenge or not, Ranma Saotome. My School is not one to accept all challengers blindly. Are you willing to perform a kata for me?”

 

“Of course, Pendekar.” Ranma immediately bowed, turned, paused and then began one of the first kata his father had taught him. As he went, smoothly, naturally flowing through its motions, he began to morph that kata into one he had picked up in China. Then one he had learned directly from Happosai. Back to one from Japan. Over to a Tibetan kata. And so it went as was the nature of the Anything Goes School that tried to make all martial arts into a single technique.

 

“Enough,” The Pendekar's voice cut through his forms, bringing Ranma to a halt. The Martial Arts Master regarded the teenager calmly, quietly for a few moments with his black eyes then said, “We will accept your challenge, Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Do you know any of the Pencak Silat styles?”

 

“I do, Pendekar.”

 

“Please keep to that style. If you can. Takeshi!” One of the students who had been practicing in the hall immediately stepped forward and bowed to his Master. He was a teenager probably only a year of two older than Ranma. “Let's see what you can make of our challenger, shall we? Prepare!” The other people in the room immediately moved to the sides and knelt down ready to watch the match. Ranma looked over his opponent, guessing he was probably the best of the younger students. “Bow!” Both of the teens bowed to the other, Takeshi immediately assuming a classic Pencak Silat animal-style stance, that of the tiger, as soon as he came up from the bow, Ranma assuming no obvious stance at all. “Begin!”

 

At first there was no movement from either fighter before they both began to slowly slide toward one another. Most Pencak Silat styles focus on hand and arm blows, where the focus of the feet is on keeping balance and stability. This was of course quite different from many of the Anything Goes maneuvers which dwelt on leaping, kicks and aerial combat, but Ranma hadn't been lying when he said he knew Pencak Silat so he glided toward his opponent intent on victory. When the other teen was close enough, Takeshi launched his attack, but he blinked in surprise as Ranma gracefully weaved between his blows before a single sharp snap of his palm hit the older teen directly in the chest, dropping him to his knees where, coughing, he tried to regain his breath, his wide eyes staring at the dojo floor as he attempted to recover as best he could.

 

When Takeshi finally made it to his feet his face was mottled both from the effects of the blow and anger. He immediately rushed at Ranma, taking no notice of his feet or balance. Thus, the teen was unable to react when his opponent easily slid from his path, smashed an elbow into his lower back and then swiftly but surely slammed him directly downward onto the dojo floor with holds on his shoulder and head. The impact again drove the breath from Takeshi's lungs and he could only roll on the ground trying to find the air to groan in pain.

 

“Enough,” The Pendekar said once more. Ranma bowed to his writhing opponent, then to the Master before stepping backward and kneeling to the ground. After several minutes Takeshi finally recovered sufficiently to stagger to his feet and bow shakily to his opponent, then to the Pendekar. After that he waited.

 

“Takeshi,” The slender older man finally commented. “You aspire to the rank of Kang but you showed two major weaknesses here today. Not that of physical ability,” The Master waved that idea aside as unimportant. “But instead mental weaknesses. First you underestimated your opponent. Thinking him younger than yourself; not a student of the school; one who had probably only had little practice in the style; and one prohibited by my command from using any other one, you immediately presumed yourself guaranteed of an easy victory. That was your first error. Then you compounded it. When your opponent's first blow showed you that he was not, in fact your inferior, you believed yourself dishonored. You allowed your emotions, fear, anger, shame, to overwhelm you. Thus, you were felled once more with even greater ease than the first time. These are dangerous flaws for a martial artist. Dwell upon them.”

 

Takeshi's face had become red once again as his mistakes were enumerated before the whole dojo. But as his Master finished he took a shaky breath, and then a deeper one, blowing out all of his tensions and thoughts. Then he bowed to his teacher, “Thank you, Pendekar. I will think on what you have said.” Then he turned to Ranma and bowed saying, “And thank you, Ranma Saotome, for what I have learned today.” That done he moved to the side of the dojo and assumed a sitting position among his fellow students. Everyone turned to regard the Dojo Master anticipating his next command. They didn't have to wait long.

 

“Shou!” The man who had brought Ranma into the dojo stepped forward smoothly and swiftly. Ranma rose to his feet looking him over closely. “Prepare!” Probably the senior instructor, the teen guessed. No more dickin' around. “Bow!” A smile was plastered on the pigtailed martial artist's face as he came up from his bow. Good! That's just the way I like it! “Begin!”

 

Once again two opponents glided forward across the dojo and as they came in range their hands and arms began streaking toward one another. For several minutes the older man and teenager attempted to damage one another with their hands as their upper bodies remained almost perfectly still. Their legs were moving swiftly, but not to attack one another. Instead those limbs were in a constant shift of balance and power that made them almost seem like they were dancing. Gradually the two began a slow circling movement, enhancing the dancing impression even as their hands continued their furious assault.

 

The students in the dojo watched breathlessly at the impressive display in front of them. The senior ones and the instructors were having trouble keeping smug smiles off their faces as they noticed that Ranma was almost completely on the defensive, only flicking out an occasional attack that Shou, the Senior Master under the Pendekar, always quickly swept aside before returning to his assault. The Pendekar had no expression whatsoever on his face as he watched the battle.

 

After five minutes of spinning combat, Shou began stopping, restarting and switching the movement of his body in an attempt to catch his opponent off guard and penetrate his defenses. Ranma, however, matched him perfectly and continued to block all of the blows coming toward him. After a few minutes of this some the students and junior instructors began to frown and mutter amongst themselves. Was this teenager mocking them by coming in and behaving like this?

 

Suddenly, Ranma stepped back from the encounter and allowed his hands to drop. Then he bowed deeply to his opponent, then turned and bowed to the Pendekar, finally he returned to a relaxed kneeling posture on the floor. Shou blinked in surprise, was he giving up?!

 

It was at this point that the senior instructor realized that he couldn't move his arms at all! They were completely stiff, hanging uselessly at his sides! If Ranma had wanted he could have done anything he wanted to with him and the older man could have done little or nothing to defend himself. Shou sighed, gave a little chuckle and shook his head, before bowing to the pigtailed martial artist in acknowledgement of his defeat, then to his master. He resumed his position at the side of the Pendekar at a simple gesture of his teacher's hand.

 

“Mongoose Style Pencak Silat,” The Pendekar commented. “Allow the opponent to attack heedlessly while you judge the moment and strike. Combined with an interesting use of Serpent Style to paralyze the opponent. Most would say the two forms are incompatible.”

 

Ranma allowed himself a smile, “Well I did say I was a student of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts.”

 

“That you did, that you did,” The Pendekar admitted, a smile suddenly appearing on his lips. It was amazing how such a small change in body language lit up and enlivened a face that up to that point appeared to have been carved out of a dark chunk of mahogany. “And there is no doubt your physical skills are exceptional,” The martial arts master continued before opening a box placed beside him. He reached into it and rummaged around for a bit before pulling out a scroll. He quickly looked it over to ensure it was the one he wanted, then flicked it over to Ranma. As the teenager snatched it out of the air and gave it a quick once over, the older man went on, “But I wonder about your mental and spiritual standing. Read that over and come to me tomorrow. We will talk about what you have read and what you think of it. Then I will decide what or what not to teach you.”

 

There was a tone of utter finality in his voice so Ranma simply stood up, tucked the scroll into his shirt and bowed to the Pendekar. Just as he was turning to leave, he was brought up short, though.

 

“I wasn't aware that Soun Tendo had resumed training students,” The darkly tanned martial arts master reserved, regarding Ranma with curious, dark eyes.

 

The teenager blinked at this, then understood the error. “As far as I know, he hasn't, Pendekar. I'm not his student. I'm the heir to the Founding and Saotome Schools of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Not the Tendo School.” Yet, he added internally.

 

“I see. Until tomorrow then.”

 

Ranma again turned to go, but was once more brought up short as a thought struck him. “Uh, Pendekar? Sorry `bout this,” Ranma commented beginning to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment. “But I got school tomorrow, so, ya know, I ain't gonna be here until the afternoon…I hope that's OK.”

 

“Of course,” The Pendekar agreed, smiling once again. “An educated mind is just as if not even more important than a well-trained body.”

 

Ranma's blue eyes blinked at that. That doesn't sound like somethin' Master Happosai would say! He mentally shrugged before bowing again and walking toward the entrance of the dojo.

 

A Half-an-Hour Later

 

“Hey, Nabiki! Can I talk to you for a sec'?” Nabiki Tendo's head jerked upward in shock as Ranma suddenly appeared directly in front of her, on the windowsill of her bedroom. He smiled at her scowling face as she thought over what had happened the previous night. Finally, though, she gestured impatiently for him to enter even as she closed the math textbook she'd been studying. “Thanks,” The martial artist said as he sat down on her bed.

 

“Well, what is it, Saotome?”

 

“I was just wonderin' if you could help me out with a couple of things.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Like goin' out and helpin' me get a cell phone like we talked about last night.”

 

Nabiki drummed her fingers on her table for a few moments as she looked at the other teenager expressionlessly. “I think I already told you that you're going to need some money, real Japanese yen, if you want a cell phone,” She eventually said.

 

“Oh, I've got money.”

 

Nabiki's eyes widened in surprise as Ranma abruptly pulled out a wad of cash. The bills were rumpled and mixed up, not in any kind of order, but her expert gaze quickly informed her that there was a pretty significant sum sitting in the teen's hand. “Just where did you get that? Last night you said you didn't have any.”

 

“Oh, I didn't,” Ranma agreed. “That's why I was askin' you `bout places I might be able to find some bandits. You mentioned that one neighborhood so I went out bandit huntin'. That's where I got all this!”

 

“We don't say bandits anymore, Saotome,” Nabiki corrected absent mindedly. “We say thieves, muggers, robbers, gangsters or something like that. `Bandits' sounds like something from the Edo Era.”

 

“Gotcha,” Ranma agreed happily. “But, ya know, in lots of places there still are bandits.”

 

“Not here.” The middle Tendo daughter pursed her lips before speaking again. “So let me get this straight. You just went around last night jumping guys you figured were `bandits' and taking their cash…Is that right?”

 

“No!” The pigtailed teen shook his head sharply. “I walked around the streets and waited for the bandits…Uh, I mean thieves, to jump me and when they did I took `em out. After that I took their money.” He scratched his head a bit sheepishly, “I gotta admit, though, I guess I did maybe…tempt them into comin' after me a little. But they were definitely bad guys! I swear!!”

 

“`Tempt them into…'” Nabiki's voice trailed off speculatively as her mind went into overdrive. “You didn't…You did!” The teenaged girl's lips curled into a little smile as Ranma's face grew redder. “You changed into a girl in order to convince them that you were weak and helpless! You know, that's actually rather clever…More clever than I would've expected from you, to be honest.”

 

“Well,” Ranma admitted, still rubbing the back of his neck. “I hafta admit it was all Master Happosai's idea. He said it was the best way for us to pick up cash quickly when we were travelin' from place to place and I gotta admit it does work, but still…I wish I didn't hafta where the costumes!”

 

“Costumes?” Nabiki's eyebrow rose sharply at that.

 

“Yeah, he says it's the best way to get them to come after me…I dunno though, it feels kinda stupid to be wearin' a nurse costume or bunny costume in the middle of the damn mountains or jungle waitin' for some stupid gang of bandits to attack me! I think the Old Perv just likes to look at me all dressed up…”

 

Nabiki opened her mouth to reply then let it click shut as she realized there was really nothing to say in response to that. Finally she decided to get down to business, “Anyway, that's definitely enough cash for you to get a cell phone and I'm willing to lend a helping hand for the extra low fee of…say \10,000.”

 

“\10,000!?!!? Are ya crazy?!!! How about \1,000?”

 

“\1,000 isn't enough for me to be bothered. I've got homework to do as you can see. Maybe for \8,000 I'd be willing to take the time.”

 

The bargaining continued between them for several minutes before they finally settled on a price of \3,000, which Ranma immediately passed over. As Nabiki tucked it safely away she added, “And for a mere \5,000 more I'll be willing to help convince your father to sign off on the contract for you.”

 

Ranma looked at her quizzically, “Why would I need ya to do that? I'll just buy the fat fool some liquor or threaten to beat the snot out of him if he doesn't sign it.” Even though the father and son had been separated for so long it was clear the youngster had quickly identified his parent's weak points. Therefore, Nabiki gracefully gave up on that point. When she stood up to go out, though, he gestured for her to sit back down. “Actually, there's one more thing I'd like your help with. When I was on the phone talkin' with the Amazons last night they told me that they'd be comin' over here pretty soon and what kinda place they want to set up shop in. I've got all the requirements here,” Ranma pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket as Nabiki carefully kept herself from smiling. “But I figure you'd be able to maybe hook me up with some real estate agent or somethin'.”

 

Nabiki appeared to carefully go over the writing on the paper he handed her, but as she already knew what was needed from her eavesdropping, she used the opportunity to think things over. Handing the paper back to him she commented, “Maybe I can help, but why should I bother?”

 

Ranma sighed, “All right, how much do you want?”

 

“How about instead of money, you owe me a favor?”

 

“A favor? What kinda favor?”

 

“I don't know. Whatever seems appropriate at the time, I suppose.”

 

Ranma frowned at this before shrugging his shoulders, “OK. Whatever. I'll owe you a favor.”

 

“You promise?”

 

“Yeah, sure!” He quickly agreed, before hastily amending, “I mean, unless it's somethin' crazy or, ya know, against my honor…”

 

“Of course, of course,” Nabiki extended her slender hand and Ranma took it cautiously in his well-calloused one. “All right then, it's agreed. Shall we get to work?”

 

“Sure!”

 

 

Author's Notes

 

Hmm…I guess things are still moving fairly slowly with this story, but at least they're moving. Anyway, I hope everyone has enjoyed it. A few comments:

 

First of all on Ranma and how he's different from the original Ranma. As should be quite obvious this Ranma is much more comfortable and adjusted to his cursed, female form. I see that as a natural outcome of having become cursed at a much younger age and having lived with it for a far longer period of time. In the anime and manga he's probably only been living with the curse for a couple of months by the time we first see him while in this story he's been cursed for nearly a decade. In addition, differences between males and females wouldn't be so obvious or traumatic for a youngster, especially one who hasn't had so much of Genma's “Women are weak!” bullshit pounded into his skull. Also, as will become more evident later on, Ranma's spent a lot more time with the Chinese Amazons in the universe of my story, much more positive time. This would definitely make him less sensitive about his female form and any `weaknesses' it might have. Finally, one would expect Happosai to be much more encouraging of Ranma's female side given his preferences as opposed to Genma's constant sneering belittling of him. Thus, I think all of these points would lead to a Ranma who's much more at home with both his male and female sides.

 

Having said all this, I want to categorically state that this does not mean Ranma, in either form, is interested in boys. As I stated at the beginning of this story, guy-on-guy doesn't interest me, so I won't be writing it. Thus, Ranma is only attracted to women no matter how comfortable he is with being a girl at times.

 

Moving on to his fighting abilities. I realize my descriptions so far leave me open to the criticism that I'm making Ranma overly powerful without anyone who can be a real challenge to him. I think that's a fair charge, especially on the physical side of things. In my own defense I would point out that this is a Ranma who has trained nearly every day of his life for the last eleven years with Happosai, Cologne or some other extremely skilled martial artist. He hasn't been going to school or anything else. He's been fighting, practicing and training his body practically all of the time! Given the Ranma we've seen in the anime and manga I feel quite comfortable in saying that such a Ranma would pretty much be whuppin' some serious ass.

 

This isn't to say he doesn't have any weak points. As should be already partially clear from Happosai's comments, and will become more obvious later on, Ranma's ki abilities are not as fully developed as his physical skills. Right now I picture him as fairly capable at using his ki internally to increase his strength, stamina, recovery time, healing power, etc. But not much used to using it externally. That'll be the main learning area for Ranma as the story moves on.

 

Speaking of the other characters, obviously the Happosai in this story is pretty much the same as in the manga and anime; maybe a bit nicer. I think my interpretation of his reasons for traveling so much and his training style are believable, though, even if nothing like it is mentioned anywhere in Rumiko Takahashi's works. Actually, the more I think about it, Happosai wanting his students to show some initiative and learn things on their own, the more I like it (Damn I'm good!). I mean, don't get me wrong. He's still a perverted little freak, but that doesn't mean he's a bad person. Well, actually, maybe it does.

 

The Tendos I don't basically imagine as any different from the beginning of the manga or anime. People who like Akane, of course, may beg to differ with my interpretation of her or her sisters, but I've already addressed that point at the beginning of this story.

 

Ryouga, Ryouga, Ryouga…God, I hate that bastard! Sorry! Just had to say it! OK, much bigger differences with Ryouga than with any other character so far. First of all, of course, the first time he's ever met Ranma in my story is at the Tendo house so no bread feud, no going to China, no little black pig named P-chan. He's still clueless when it comes to directions, still madly in love with Akane, still completely unable to express his feelings and still placing all the blame on others for his own problems. His combat skills I see as being slightly below when we first see him in the manga and anime. My reasoning for this was that he never had a feud with Ranma which would push him to higher ability levels. His main rival would of course have been our favorite swordsman, Tatewaki Kuno and I don't imagine that stuck up loser pushing Ryouga anywhere near as much as Ranma would have. Ryouga's got the same abnormal strength and toughness as we see in Rumiko Takahashi's stories, but not quite the same amount of skill. Given Ranma's increased abilities, the match between them was really no contest at all.

 

That of course was one reason I gave him the Shishi Hokodan attack right from the get go rather than much later as happened in the core universe. I wanted Ryouga to have something that Ranma didn't have as yet. Also, emotional ki is going to be important as we move along so I felt like it was a good idea to introduce the idea early.

 

The Amazons I'll say more about later when they come more fully into the story. Who are the two other Amazons Ranma's married to besides Shampoo? I think that's a pretty easy question to guess the answer towards. Who are numbers four and five that Happosai teased Ranma about and Cologne has said “weren't real Amazons”? Hmm, I wonder…You'll just have to wait and see!

 

Finally, Midori. She is, of course, the Ms. Midori that Happosai falls so madly in love with in one of the anime episodes that he tries to give up panty stealing (only to almost kill himself from giving up his perversions) in order to win her affections. I wasn't able to find a family name for her anywhere so I just made one up. And, yes, I know her eyes look blue in that episode, but green fit her name better so I changed things. At the moment I haven't really decided if we'll see more of her or not. Even if we do, it'll be definitely be as a minor, side character. Anyway, should you have a strong opinion either pro- or con-Midori let me know!

 

And that brings me to my final comment (“Thank God!” Everyone cheers!). That of course is that I do want to hear your opinions. If you post them on the Media Miner site I'll definitely read them, but don't expect a reply. If you email me directly I'll definitely read it and send you a reply as soon as I can. Either way's great! I love feedback!

 

As always, thanks for reading my stuff.

 

Null Factor