Here's the first snippet (of 3)
Prologue can be found here
http://www.fanfiction.net/secure/story/ ... id=4811634
CHAPTER 1
Elder Ku Lon, matriarch of the Amazon village of Nyuuchezu, was giving her great-granddaughter some final tips before the start of the annual tournament Just as she was explaining some of the finer points of fighting defensively she stopped in her explanations, as she felt a disturbance coming from Jusenkyo. She had already known for a few minutes about the intruders at the Pools of sorrow since they had to pass the monitoring charms the Amazons had put around the valley, but generally they didn’t need to interfere since it was the guide’s job to help the newly cursed. Thus she had thought nothing of it and had gone to see her great-granddaughter and give her some last minute advice and information on her adversaries.
But now… she had never felt anything like that. And she was pondering on it when she saw the other elders approach.
“Did you feel that, Ku Lon?” Soa Pu asked. “There’s definitely something unusual going on at Jusenkyo. I think it would be better if we sent someone to check.”
“I agree,” Ku Lon answered. “I’ll do it myself. It will be a nice change from the usual routine.”
“Great-grandmother?” A very confused purple-haired girl interjected. She didn’t really understand what the elders were talking about, except that the matriarch would leave her alone. “What about the tournament? You’ll miss it.”
Ku Lon gave the young girl a tender look before she reassured her. “Xian, I know that you’ll make me proud. I’ve taught you a lot and even given you some tips about how to deal with some of your opponents. You should be fine on your own. Always remember what family you’re from. Our family has always been one of the strongest and most respected of this whole village. And you’ll continue with that tradition. I won’t be gone for very long and should be back for the final matches.
Reassured by her great-grandmother’s words Xian Pu was much more confident and decided not to bother the elder any longer.
“Farewell,” Elder Ku Lon said. “I’ll be back soon.”
Although she didn’t say anything to the other elders since she didn’t want to worry them, the matriarch had a strange feeling, as if something very important had happened at Jusenkyo, something that might have consequences for the tribe.
She also thought back to what she had told her great-granddaughter. It was true that Xian Pu had a lot of potential and that she’d probably win the tournament. Unfortunately, her biggest flaw was her tendency to be arrogant and feel superior to the other warriors in her age category. And winning the tournament might make the problem even worse. Ah well, she’d think about it later. She had more urgent matters to attend to, namely the strange magical energy she felt coming from the cursed pools. She accelerated, hopping on her staff at a speed that would make a cheetah jealous. The closer she got to Jusenkyo the stronger the foreign magical signature got. It felt… primeval. Not human, but powerful. Another five minutes and she’d be there.
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Meanwhile at Jusenkyo, Ranma was pissed. Well, saying that she was pissed was probably the understatement of the century. She was furious. Furious at her father’s stupidity for bringing her to this accursed place, furious at the guide for not warning them, and especially furious at herself for her own carelessness. Too blinded by her anger to be cautious she jumped very quickly over the poles, not bothering about the consequences should she fall into another pool. She wanted to join her father and the guide as quickly as possible to make her displeasure known. Genma cringed when he saw the murderous look his child was giving him, but the guide’s reaction on the other hand was completely different. He was standing there like in a trance, not moving a single muscle. He seemed mesmerized by the girl’s beauty, had a lecherous smile on his face and was drooling.
Nope. No help from that side. Genma tried to make the Chinese man come back to his senses, but before he achieved any results, the angry blonde had already arrived and was standing in front of them and shaking in anger.
Just as the young girl was about to lay into her father, said man upended the thermos over her head, turning the girl back into a boy. Ranma was so surprised by Genma’s action that all thoughts of revenge had temporarily been put out of his mind. He didn’t even notice that he was male again. But Genma did and tried to calm down the irate teenager. “Calm down! Look at you. You’re back to normal.”
That did the trick and when Ranma looked down he was relieved to see that the two mounds that had obscured his view earlier on were gone. Since he was a guy again he didn’t see any reason to stay angry. Sure, it was a shock to be changed into something else, but thank God it was just temporary. No need to get angry over something so trivial.
In the meantime the guide was almost back to normal, slowly shaking off the effect of the blonde girl’s aura.
“Son, we need to talk,” Genma solemnly said. “You’re back to normal for now. But…” and here the man winced. He knew his son well enough to know that he wouldn’t take the news very well. But he was partially responsible for the boy getting cursed and so it was his duty to inform him of the truth about the curses, consequences be damned. “… you’re not cured.”
“What?” The teen shouted incredulously. “But I’m a guy again. See?” Just to be sure he checked his sensitive areas, but everything was back where it belonged.”
Genma shook his head. “Son, you probably don’t want to hear this, but the cure is only temporary.”
“WHAT!?” The pigtailed boy shouted, before narrowing his eyes and glaring at the sweating, bespectacled man. “What—Do—You—Mean?”
Inwardly the cursed man prayed that the boy wouldn’t be too angry about the next piece of news.
“Erhhhm… well…” Relieved that he hadn’t been hit yet, but that Ranma was all ears, the martial arts master regained some confidence and got on with his explanation. “Next time you’re splashed with cold water you’ll transform into a girl again. Warm water, however, will change you back into a boy.”
Seeing that Ranma was just standing there, gob smacked, and hoping to avoid a beating he decided that an apology might be in order. Not the Crouch of the Wild Tiger, however frightening the technique may be, but a real, heartfelt apology. “I’m—I’m really sorry, son. It is all my fault. If only I hadn’t found the stupid brochure, all of this could have been avoided. I promise, I’ll do everything in my power to find a cure. Please, don’t hate me for this. You’re all I have in this world.”
Genma’s apologetic tone managed to somewhat calm Ranma down, even if he was still visibly pissed. “I—I can’t forgive you yet, pops. Maybe in time, but for now I’m just too angry. Please, just—just give me some time.”
Genma then looked a the guide and seeing that he was normal again he asked. “Are you feeling better? What has happened to you? You were completely out of it.?”
The guide was ashamed at his reaction. It’s the first time a girl had had that effect on him. “I don’t know. I just couldn’t look away. I’ve never seen a more beautiful girl. It was really strange. She must have emitted some kind of lust aura or pheromones or something like that. I just couldn’t take my eyes away from her body. And I’ve seen a lot of beautiful women who could easily rival your son’s beauty.” And that was true indeed. The Amazons visited him regularly, and almost all of them were certainly beautiful enough to be models, but none could compare to the otherworldly beauty of the blonde goddess. But why? What made this girl so special? He didn’t know. And he couldn’t even remember where the pool had come from. He’d never heard of it before at least. He’d have to talk to the Amazon elders. They might know more.
Ranma gave the guide a nasty glare, but didn’t say anything. Probably a pervert who liked to gawk at younger girls. The pigtailed martial artist was disgusted but didn’t dwell on it. Finding a cure should be his top priority for the moment.
“Is there a cure?” Was Ranma’s predictable question.
The guide shook his head. “Like I told your father, none that I know of. You’re father mentioned one of our brochures, which is strange as they have been destroyed a long time ago to keep people from coming here. I didn’t even know there were still any around. The curses are explained and I wonder why you would willingly risk getting cursed.”
Genma was really feeling uncomfortable now as he really didn’t want to talk about it, but there was no way around it. ”Unfortunately, it’s written in Chinese. The only thing I understood is that Jusenkyo is a famous training ground.”
The guide was appalled at witnessing such a level of stupidity while Ranma was banging his head against a tree. “I should have known,” he said. “Another one of your stupid ideas. You couldn’t have found someone to translate it for you? No, of course you couldn’t. Once again your damn pride kept you from doing the sensible thing.”
Genma didn’t even have the nerve to look his son in the eyes. All he had said was true. He had a tendency of jumping the gun instead of thinking about the consequences. It had been like that since the beginning of the training journey and he had no idea why. Of course, afterwards he was always sorry, but that didn’t keep him from making one stupid mistake after another. He just hoped that he could somehow make it up to his son.
He decided to get more information out of the guide. Even if he didn’t know of a cure, he might know people who could help or who had more information about the springs. “Don’t you know anyone who could help us? Someone who has dealt with curses before?”
“Well, you should talk to the Joketsuzoku, the Chinese Amazons. They have been living here for more than 3,000 years, and no one knows more about Jusenkyo than they do. I don’t think they have a cure but I’m sure they could help you adjust.”
Genma raised an eyebrow. “Amazons? Yeah, right. Tell me another one.”
“I would listen to him if I were you, sonny boy.”
The two men and one boy looked at the spot where the voice had come from and Genma and Ranma were really surprised at what they saw there in front of them. It was some sort of ugly creature perched on a gnarled walking stick.
“Aaaah, a ghoul!” Shouted Ranma before said ‘ghoul’ whacked him on the head with its stick.
“Respect your elders!” The being huffed. “Children these days. Honestly. A ghoul…? Comparing someone of my obvious beauty to a pitiful undead creature. The nerve of this boy. Ah well, he’ll learn in time. I am Elder Ku Lon, matriarch of the Joketsuzoku and I’d really like to know what happened.”
NEXT: Ranma's curse and Genma's past