Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ The Wild Stallion and the Drow ❯ The Training Circle ( Chapter 1 )

Standard disclaimer:  Ranma ½ is from the mind of Rumiko Takahashi, and distributed in the US by Viz.  The elven gods and other visitors from Toril are all from the equally fertile minds of Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb as well as all the other writers who work for TSR.  That means I don't own any of them, and are just perverting them for my enjoyment as well as yours, I hope. 

This story is a continuance based on Elle ½, an omake by Greg Sharp (AKA Metroanime), based on an idea he found at http://addventure.bast-enterprises.de

That's done, now on with the story

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The Wild Stallion and the Drow

Chapter 1

Dawn arrived in Arvandor like any other day.  Except that this was unlike any other day.  A human boy, quite alive, was to begin training in elven martial arts-the bow and sword, in survival and hunting, in tracking and living in harmony with the land.  For that boy, it arrived with a splash, as a bucket of ice-cold water was dumped on him at the crack of dawn.  "Ranma, get up," Eilistraee shouted.  Her first day with her fiancé as her student, and already she wasn't terribly impressed.

"What'ya do that for?"  Ranma asked, as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Because I couldn't wake you up any other way," replied the young drow goddess.  "Now get dressed, and meet me in the courtyard.  We begin your training today."  Ranma nodded, and climbed out of the soft bed.  He quickly threw on his training gi and hastened out to the courtyard, following the path he'd taken with Ygraine yesterday.  A table had been set with a light, typical elven breakfast.  Ranma managed to grab a pastry and piece of fruit before he saw Eilistraee standing there, her arms crossed, and a hand and a half sword on her back.  "Good.  Now, come with me, Ranma."  She took his hand, and began chanting softly in elvish.  A glow surrounded the two as they disappeared.

The two appeared in a clearing in the forests of the elven afterlife.  "Ranma," Eilistraee said, "choose a sword."

"I don't want to.  Pops told me that anyone who relies on a weapon is weak."

She smirked.  "Do you think me weak, Ranma?"

"Nah.  Yer a goddess, so even if you don't have any weapons, you're still pretty powerful."

Eilistraee openly smiled.  "Very perceptive, Ranma.  But let me ask you this:  What if I were to be in a situation where I could not use my magics either by them being exhausted or it reveal my nature?"

"Then I'd be there to protect ya," Ranma said with an all-knowing smirk.

*The boy's that self-assured.  Impressive.  But how well his ego will hold up to fighting a drow,* Eilistraee thought.  "But what if you weren't there, Ranma."

"Oh, I see your point, Eil-chan."  The boy martial artist looked ashamed.  With hesitance, he reached over and pulled a European-style longsword from the collection of swords.  Eilistraee barely stifled a chuckle when she saw how much trouble Ranma was having holding a sword that was as big as he was up.

"An impressive choice, Ranma.  Perhaps you should take a lighter sword for the time being."  The drow reached over and with a quick spell, the longsword became proportional to its bearer.  "The sword and its scabbard are attuned to you, Ranma.  As you grow, so will they.  Should anyone else touch it out of or remove it from its scabbard, a mild electrical shock will result, numbing the hand of the bearer, unless you will it."  Eilistraee smiled, as she became a chibi-drow.  "Just one of the advantages of being the goddess of the sword.

"Now, do you know how to use a sword?"

Ranma held up the sword and pointed to the tip.  "Sure.  Ya stick the pointy end into yer opponent."

Eilistraee sighed.  "I see we are going to have a lot of work to do."  She led him to a smooth area in the clearing.  The stone surface was smooth as marble, black granite marked various circles and lines.  She placed Ranma into the inner circle and moved to another circle within the outer ring.  "This is what is called a training circle.  This will be your world.  Until I say it exists, nothing exists out of this circle…"

"What about Pops?" Ranma interrupted.

"He doesn't exist until I say he does.  As you advance, you'll move to a smaller circle, bringing you that much closer to your target; that much closer to retribution."  Eilistraee moved towards her student.  "Now, we begin."  She drew her sword, and Ranma did likewise.  He charged her, holding his longsword like a katana as if he were some deranged samurai.  Eilistraee quickly brought her own sword up, and knocked Ranma's out of his hands.  She sighed, and began the process of instructing Ranma on the basics of the sword.

"Attack slow," she said.  Ranma lunged for her leg, and Eilistraee deflected with her blade.  "Attack…slow.  Attack…slow."  Two more times, Ranma lunged and was deflected.  "Better.  Again and faster this time."  Ranma lunged again, slightly faster than before.  He repeated it three times, moving slightly faster each time.  "Excellent.  You're a quick study, Ranma."

"Arigato, sensei."  Ranma bowed. 

Eilistraee returned the bow.  "Now for something a little more advanced.  The next exercise is called triangles.  As I deflect your blade, continue to try to get past my defenses."  Ranma nodded, understanding.  "Begin."  Ranma lunged.  With the light clanging of blades, he advanced towards the goddess, and worked his way through the exercise. 

Ranma began getting closer but stopped before his blade touched his teacher, much to Eilistraee's shock.  "Ranma," she asked, "why didn't you strike me?"

"Pops always told me never to hit a woman, that they're weaker than men."

A vein popped out on Eilistraee's forehead when he heard Ranma say that.  "Ranma, women are not necessarily weaker then men.  In fact sometimes it's quite the opposite.  The Drow are a matriarchal society."  Ranma had a confused look on his face.  "That means that men are second class citizens.  Their goddess, unfortunately my mother, despises anyone who would not worship her.  That includes any who worship me, and their allies."  Eilistraee smiled at her student.  "So I think you can understand when a child fights with their parent."

"Yeah, I get'cha.  So I guess that means I gotta hit ya, right?"  Eilistraee nodded.  "So what are we waiting for?"  Ranma resumed his stance, and waited for Eilistraee to attack.

As morning proceeded towards afternoon with the light clanging of swords striking, the master and student paused in their training for a few moments for refreshment. "Ranma," Eilistraee said, "I've never seen anyone master the sword that quickly."

Ranma paused in taking a drink of water. "Yeah, Pops always said I was a quick study. Although I don't know why he kept tossing me in that pit of cats."

*Father said something about the 'Catfist'. I'm going to have to look it up and see what it is.*  Eilistraee thought. "Your father had his reasons I'm sure," she said.  "I would like to teach you advanced elven sword techniques, but I would like to ask Father about that first."

"Sure, Eil-chan.  No problem.  So what are we going to do now?"

"The next step in your training is going to be to learn how to relax.  Elves learn to take life as we see it, not rushing hither and yon.  And because we are able to stop and smell the roses as it were, we gain a better perspective on the world around us."  She led her charge down the side of the hill that the training circle was on and sat down in the grass, morphing back to her adult form.  Ranma looked at her.  "Sit, relax Ranma.  The weight of the world is a heavy thing; finding a moment or two of relaxation can be a good thing to ease your mind."

Ranma thought for a moment, then sat down.  True to the Saotome line, Ranma started a losing fight with heavy eyelids and was asleep within a few minutes of sitting down.

 Eilistraee smiled at the sleeping boy, and gently stroked his hair.  *He is cute, for a human.  Perhaps I'll rethink this arrangement.*

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Eilistraee knocked on the door to her father's study before entering.  "Father, can I ask you a question?"

Corellon looked up at his daughter.  Even though she had gone in to exile with the Drow voluntarily, he decided to let bygones be bygones and welcomed her to his realm without malice.  What his ex-wife did was something he would have expected her to pull.  "What can I do for you, daughter?"

"What do you know of the 'Catfist'?"

"Where did you hear about this?"

"From Ranma.  He mentioned it a few times today during training."

Corellon ha-hummed.  "I see.  The 'Catfist' is a human martial arts technique.  It is supposedly unbeatable, but there are several problems with it.  One involves the actual training, the others involve the student after the training.

"The student, between 5 and 10 years old, is covered in fish products and thrown into a pit of cats starved for a minimum of four days.  Repeat until the student learns the technique or dies from the trauma.  If the student manages to learn the technique, then the other two problems present themselves.  Either the student is trapped in a 'feral' state where he attacks anyone he perceives as a threat, or he manages to succeed out of the feral state, but develops an intense, irrational fear of cats."

"That's horrible," Eilistraee exclaimed.  "I doubt even Lolth would do such a thing.  What kind of person would do that to a child?"

"Someone looking for an easy way to for their student to become unbeatable.  Not exactly the most honorable means of training.  Speaking of training, how is Ranma doing with his?"

Eilistraee smiled.  "He's already grasped the basics of the sword.  He was hesitant at first both about taking up the sword and striking me.  I managed to convince him otherwise."

Corellon chuckled.  "Yes, his father does have some strange ideas about both training and etiquette."  Corellon picked up on his daughter's uneasiness about her student.  "Is there something troubling you, daughter?"

The drow goddess looked at her father.  "Father, if I do marry this human, and I'm only saying if, he's going to age and eventually die."

Corellon tried to keep from smirking.  His daughter, who initially reacted with shock to being engaged to Ranma, suddenly seemed to actually care about him.  All within a day.  "That has already been taken care of, my daughter.  But what else is bothering you?"

"I want to train him in elven sword techniques, but I don't know how the other gods would react to that."

"I have made Ranma my charge, daughter.  None of the other members of the pantheon would dare dispute what we train the boy.  Oh there's no doubt that they'll grumble about it like dwarves, but they'll not dispute my word."

Eilistraee smiled at her father.  "That's good to hear, father."
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Four months later:

A sparring match was scheduled in the center courtyard.  Interested residents of Arvandor filled the galleries surrounding an open area just large enough for two sword-wielders. Chibi-Eilistraee walked into the arena amid polite applause.  She saluted the spectators with her sword.  Ranma walked out, also amid polite applause, although there were some disdainful looks from some of the haughtier elves.  Ranma bowed to the crowed, then bowed to Eilistraee.  Standing between them was Corellon.  "Best two out of three points for the win, one point per strike.  Begin!"

Both opponents saluted then moved into towards each other.  There were gasps from some of the elves when they saw the sword in Ranma's hands.  Human boy and chibi-elven goddess, student and master then clashed with a fury of sword strikes against each other's blade.  Attack met parry and counterattack, as master and student fought through each other's defenses, trying to get the first point in.

The two fighters backed off.  Eilistraee reassessed her student's skill level.  Her student had a cocky grin on his face, like a cat eyeballing the canary.  The goddess moved in and began a new series of attacks.  Ranma met his chibi-sensei's attacks, studying her moves then made his attack.  Beneath the clash of steel blades, there was the subtle sound of cloth tearing.

They backed off again.  Ranma looked at the seam of his shirt, then at his teacher.  Eilistraee smiled at him as Corellon awarded the first point to his daughter.  Ranma smirked back at her, then went into a new stance.  Eilistraee moved in warily, but on the offensive.

Blades flashed in the morning light.  Ranma backed off smiling, after Eilistraee's knee went through her trouser leg.  Corellon awarded the point to Ranma.  His sensei looked at her student and nodded.  The two combatants closed and clashed again.  Different offensive and defensive forms were used, some even created there on the spot.

Ranma backed off and saw that there was a new tear in the opposite seam of his tunic.  Eilistraee had this smug little smile on her face.  *Calm.  Gotta stay calm,* Ranma thought to himself.  *Eil-chan always told me never attack in anger.  And she's trying to get me mad.*  The student responded with his own smug smirk, and closed on his teacher.  Bastard sword and longsword clashed, as the combatants moved through the ring.  With the grace and finesse of a martial artist, Ranma disarmed his sensei.  There was dead silence as Eilistraee's sword skittered to a halt next to Corellon.  The Father of All Elves looked at his daughter, standing there, the point of Ranma's sword at her breast.  "I yield," Eilistraee said, quietly.  This was the first time that the warrior-trained goddess lost to a mortal.

Corellon looked at his daughter.  "Ranma Saotome wins by surrender," he said.  The elves watching the fight just sat there, stunned that a mere human boy was able to defeat one of their gods.  Not expecting applause for his feat, Ranma bowed first to chibi-Eilistraee then to Corellon before walking out of the arena.

Eilistraee morphed back into her normal size and left the arena after her young fiancé.  Her father intercepted her before she got near Ranma.  "Yes Father?"

"Ranma needs some time alone.  He's been training almost from the day he started walking.  He's used to either praise or insult when he learned something quickly or didn't learn it fast enough.  This is the first time that he's received apathy from someone watching him fight.  I should have realized that some elves may take exception to our training young Ranma in elven fighting tactics."

Eilistraee looked at her father.  "It doesn't matter what they think, Father.  Your will supercedes their racial intolerance.  You've always taught that it doesn't matter what a person looks like on the outside, but the character of the person on the inside is what matters.  I've been teaching Ranma for the past four months.  He's rude, crude, irreverent, uncultured, honorable, loyal, and tends to learn even the hardest techniques quickly.  In some ways he's worse than a dwarf, but in others he makes some of the most honorable elves look like petty thieves."

Corellon chuckled.  "It will be interesting to see how he turns out with a father like his raising him."  He looked at his daughter, and smiled.  "So it my daughter seems to have fallen for young Ranma."

"Father!  Ranma is my student, I *have* not fallen for him.  I just respect him as a fighter."

Corellon tried not to smirk.  "Of course, of course.  You do realize that tomorrow he goes to train with Solonor."

"Of course, Father.  I saw your contract with his father.  I realize that he'll need to learn the bow.  And Solonor is the best there is."

"Just like you're the best there is at the sword," the Father of All Elves said, placating his daughter.  "There'll still be time enough to be with Ranma before we return him."  Eilistraee gave her father a slight smile, just the faintest of smiles, but it spoke volumes to her father.  "Now go talk to Ranma and try to cheer him up."

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