Alternatives -- Chapter 9 Ranma 1/2 and all of its' characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and all of the companies who have licensed it. I don't own any of it. I do not have permission to use her characters or ideas. I am writing solely for pleasure. Don't sue. All comments, flames, MST's or other responses are welcome. Let me know what you think. Public comments are the most appreciated! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The next morning, the hike from the village of Joketsuzoku to the cursed training grounds of Jusenkyo seemed twice as long as it had yesterday, and the mood of the hikers was significantly more solemn. Previously, they had anticipated the fulfillment of their dreams with no cost to Ranma or themselves, yet now they knew the horrible, painful price that one man alone faced. Each wrapped within their own thoughts, the group traveled somberly forward. Ever the nurturer, Kasumi carried with her the necessary water, clothes and blankets in anticipation of Ranma’s plunge. Her puffy eyes, the slight creasing of her brow and the slight frown on her lips were the only signs of the inner turmoil plaguing her. If she hadn’t felt honor-bound to help Ranma, whom she considered a little brother, she knew in her heart that she would never have returned to this cursed place. Leading the procession, Ranma and Akane uncharacteristically hung on each other with his left arm around her torso and her right draped over his shoulder, left clinging to his ribs. Though she didn’t want him to go through the hell he suffered just a day before, she knew she couldn’t stop him and would show her support any way she could. If given the option, Akane would have gladly assumed his place and his pain. Shampoo, Kodachi, Ukyo, and Ranko followed directly behind Ranma and Akane. Nabiki, shamed into coming by Kasumi, carried extra supplies and walked beside her sister. Cologne, Kuno, Soun, Nodoka and Genma made up the rest of the procession. They arrived just after the sun topped the trees that lined the deceptively tranquil looking valley. Nervously waiting for Ranma to jump into the Spring of Drowned Twins, Ranko caught sight of several Musk Soldiers clustered around a spring on the other side of the plain. There were six men in what looked their nightshirts waiting as a seventh man brought forward a bound and struggling small animal. They laughed as one of them tied a rope to the animal's yellow collar and then threw it into the nearby pool. Her stomach churned in revulsion as a young woman stood up from where the animal had been tossed. Still watching in horrified fascination, she saw the man holding the rope begin to pull the woman towards himself. Faintly, she heard the woman shout in Japanese, "I'll die before you can touch me!" Without further thought, Ranko charged through the spring-laden valley, intercepting the rope tied to the naked young lady in the cursed spring. If the newly created girl could speak Japanese, she definitely must have been human before her plunge, and if so, Ranko could not allow them to play their disgusting games with her. Now on the scene, she jerked the rope from the soldier's hands and angrily yelled, "I don't think so!" Keeping her eyes firmly rooted on the Musk soldiers, she felt Cologne and a few others arrive behind her. They immediately spread in an arc behind her, protecting both her and the girl in the pool. As the pressure from the rope eased, Ryouga looked up and saw Ranma-chan protecting her. From her many fights with Ranma, she noticed something about Ranma-chan’s manner that barely failed to conceal her complete exhaustion. Looking more closely, she noticed that Ranma-chan's clothes, though a shirt and pants as always, were different. If a bit tight, it fit her body well, exposing the feminine curves that could rarely be seen with her usual baggy clothing. Confused, she scanned the rest of her saviors and froze as she saw Ranma standing next to Akane. The behemoth-like leader strode forward, answering Ranko's challenge, "We have trapped many animals and are testing them for worthiness. Why do you stop us? Those who meddle in our affairs pay dearly for their curiosity!” Furious with pent up frustration and rage, Ranko shouted, “She just spoke Japanese, you idiot! She’s obviously not an animal! You’ll ...test... her over my dead body!” "So, you challenge me?" Myrrh laughed as he looked at this pathetically weak female. "I accept. If I lose, you can have this female. However, if I win, you agree to become a Musk warrior's docile bride." “Agreed,” Ranko spit back as she dropped back into a defensive stance, poised for Myrrh’s first attack. "Hold, you may not fight this challenge here. I have adopted this woman's mother as my daughter. Thus, she is my granddaughter, an Amazon, and a warrior of the tribe. As such, our treaty protects both of you; this shall be handled as all disputes are between our tribes. You will come to our village in 15 days. The challenge match will be held in the arena and will be witnessed by both Amazon warriors and yours." Cologne stood between the two, blocking either from attacking. "With her mannish manners, I should have known that this bitch was an Amazon whore. Very well, I agree, but the terms previously set will be enforced upon the loser, no matter who wins.” With an evil leer on his face, Myrrh examined Ranko thoroughly. He knew not to underestimate the women from Joketsuzoku, but the fact of the matter was that no mere woman could defeat him. “And this woman will stay with us until the challenge is concluded!” Ranko added with determination shining from her eyes. Gauging his options carefully, having no wish to surrender any part of what was his property, Myrrh surveyed Cologne. Between the Joketsuzoku women and their pitiful allies, he estimated, that while not cheap, victory would be his, but that was not what stopped him from ordering these idiots' deaths. To face a force of avenging Amazons would require many more men than he had here, and Joketsuzoku was much closer to Jusenkyo than the Musk border. "Very well, breaking the both of you in will make my victory that much sweeter." Looking at Ranko, he added in a lust-filled voice, "I think I shall make you one of my concubines, rather than let you be wasted as a wife. I like my women small and feisty, just like you. It will be a pleasure teaching you how to obey and serve a real man. Before I'm finished with you, you'll be begging me to let you satisfy me." "Do not respond to him, granddaughter. We must tend to this woman," Cologne said, gesturing at Ryouga who sat in a daze, chest deep in the waters of the Nyannichuan. Ranko continued to glare at Myrrh and growled, "I will finish this when we meet in the challenge field. You will not be laughing then." Noticing the bandanna around her head, Cologne looked closely at the girl and with a smile of recognition said, "Shampoo, go into the pool and help this person out of the water." "You sure, Great-grandmother?" Shampoo cautiously asked. "Go." As she entered the water and moved towards the girl, Shampoo felt the beginnings of her transformation to a cat start and then, remarkably, reverse. "Aiyah!" she exclaimed as she quickly moved beside the girl and helped her out. "Let Shampoo help you out." With the immediate crisis over, Ryouga began going into shock. She looked away from Ranma and down at herself and whispered, "I'm not a pig. I'm a... girl?" Feeling Shampoo's hand on her elbow, she allowed herself to be led out and away from the Musk tribesmen. Ukyo had not been idle. Seeing that there would not be a fight, she moved forward and took a blanket from one of the men. As the girl and Shampoo exited the spring, she placed it around the naked girl's shoulders and wrapped her up so that she would be decent. "There you go, sugar. You don't need to be naked and cold in front of scum like this. We'll get you back to the village and get you some hot water and some clothes. You'll feel much better when you're yourself again. By the way, my name's Ukyo and this is Shampoo. What's yours?" Looking up at the chef with haunted eyes, Ryouga murmured, "Don't you recognize me, Ukyo?" "Um, sure I do, honey," she replied soothingly. "Let's just get back over to where it's safer." Lifting her gaze over the stricken girl's head, she looked at Shampoo to see if Shampoo recognized her. Shampoo shook her head negatively as she gently untied the rope from the yellow and black bandanna wrapped around the girl's head. “Everything will be all right, Ryouga,” Cologne whispered from behind. “Let’s finish our business and leave this evil place before any other tragedies occur.” "R-R-Ryouga?" Ranko stammered out. "But I thought that the... " "Hush, child. We shall speak of this a little later." "What happened?" Kasumi asked as soon as they were within earshot. "Ryouga got lost and fell into a spring," Ranko started explaining. "Then the Musk caught him and, thinking he was a real animal, tossed him into the Nannichuan. I saw them throw him in, heard him yelling in Japanese, and ran to stop the Musk from hurting him," she paused and with a little embarrassment in her voice continued, "I didn’t know it was Ryouga until Cologne recognized him.” "Is that really you, Ryouga?" Akane looked at the bedraggled figure in front of her. The girl was wearing Ryouga's bandanna and had his eyes, but her hair was dishwater blonde and she didn't have the cute little fangs that Ryouga had told her was a Hibiki family trait. "Yes, it's me," an emotionless voice answered her. Even under the blanket, Ryouga was shivering with cold. "Shampoo, why don't you take Ryouga to the Guide's hut and get Ryouga some hot water? I'm sure he'll feel much better when he's himself again," Cologne gently suggested. Turning to everyone else, she sighed and said, "Why don't we get your ordeal out of the way, Ranma? Then we can get the answers from the Guide as to how this all happened." Ranma bashfully stripped and walked to the edge of the pool. He took several deep breaths, staring at the crystal clear water before he gathered the courage to leap in. Listening as her new brother’s voices tore through the air, Ranko quickly forgot the question she had intended to ask the Guide. Shivering with dread, she nervously waited for her brothers to be taken out and cared for before she took the initiative, breaking from the group, and leapt forward towards the water’s icy embrace. "What are you doing, Ranko?" Nodoka screamed in horror as she watched her daughter dive into the pool from which she had been born. Her terror turned into amazement as she watched her daughter painfully split into a son and daughter. Everyone except Ukyo was stunned at the development. As the boy and girl crawled out of the water, Ranko looked towards Ukyo hoping that she would explain. Kasumi and Kodachi moved forward to help get them under the tarp. The two of them joined their brothers in sleep seconds after being laid down. "We talked about this last night," Ukyo explained solemnly. "I gave her some Spring of Drowned Boy water last night. We didn't want anyone to have to go through this more than they have to." The sounds of a heated, one-sided argument woke the four from their befuddlement minutes later. When they were able to look for the source, they saw that a very unhappy Jusenkyo Guide defending himself from verbal attacks from Nodoka and Cologne, while helping Shampoo bring a now male Ryouga towards them. "I very sorry. Mother of honored customer write; ask how to get rid of curse on son. Already, I give full barrel of Spring of Drowned Boy to him. I decide that honored customer must want way to save the girl-type body of cursed side. I write back and tell her how." He cringed back from the anger he could see in both women's body language. "If that is true, why did you lie about mixing curses then? Ryouga was cursed to be some sort of animal and then dunked into the Drowned Girl spring. How come he didn't come out half-human?" Nodoka was displeased with the little man and his evasions. "Aiyah! I not lie! I merely state that if you mix waters, curses mix too!" As he answered her, he prostrated himself to both women. "You intentionally mislead my adopted daughter. Tell us the truth!" Cologne's eyes slit in controlled anger as she moved next to the Guide and tapped him lightly in several key locations. "I sorry. I want to tell truth, but little man stop me. He say he no travel all way from Nerima just to lose his Ranma-chan. He say he drink all of Spring of Drowned Boy water to keep student from lifting curse," the Jusenkyo Guide was speaking as if hypnotized. “Happosai, that little pervert,” Nodoka growled. “How in all the hells did he know about my letter to you?” "I no know; he no tell me. He say he learn of letter and come immediately. He no tell me how." Nodoka half-whispered to herself as she slowly turned away from the Guide, "I don't understand, I only told one person and he would never have told Happosai about it... or would he? GENMA SAOTOME! Tell me that you didn't tell your perverted master of my plans?" >From somewhere, Genma had pulled a flask of cold water and splashed himself. A panda now stood where he had been. It was holding a sign that read, "Genma? I don't know any Genma. I'm only a panda." Hearing all of this, Ranko looked down at herself and from somewhere, she didn't know where, she gained enough strength to stand and start yelling, "Pops, you mean that if it weren't for you, I'd be a guy right now? I've joked about having panda steaks in the past, but I'm getting very hungry for panda right now! I can't believe..." she stopped and thought for a second. "I can believe that you would pull something so crummy as this." As her anger left her, despair filled the hole left behind, her strength deserted her, and she collapsed back to the ground. Ukyo rushed to her side and helped her back to her pallet. She glared at Genma and said, "I know a delicious recipe for panda okonomiyaki, sugar. Would you like some?" "No, I will not tolerate such joking about my husband. If he has actually done such a dishonorable deed as selling out his own son, I will be the one to decide his punishment," Nodoka announced, stopping all threats against him with her pronouncement. "Genma, turn yourself back before I decide that you should stay a panda." Running towards the Guide's hut, the retreating panda held up a sign that read, "Yes, Dear!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ While Ukyo nursed Ranko during the day, she tried to visualize being the husband of the woman laying next to her, but just couldn't do it. She loved Ranma with all of her heart and knew that Ranko really was Ranma on the inside. However, all of her dreams as a child had been for vengeance so that she could regain her womanhood and become a wife and a mother. Willingly becoming a man for her friend and love was something that she thought that she could do, but now with the means and the opportunity, she found herself hesitating. The suffering that Ranma volunteered to undergo to make her and the others happy simply baffled and amazed her; she wanted no one to go through that just so she could be happy. However, now that she had time to think about it, she didn't really want to become a man either. Ranko would always be her friend, but she wanted to be the one to birth and nurse their children, not just be the one to hand out cigars. She knew that Ranko's feelings might be hurt, but she had to be honest with herself; besides, Ranko had said herself that she didn't want her to be cursed. Nodoka and Kasumi quickly took charge of the temporary encampment. While a fiancee was directly attending each of the Saotome siblings, Kasumi made absolutely sure that each girl knew exactly what to do and to call her if anything happened. She continually checked on them, going from one to another verifying that their needs were being met. Nodoka busied herself with preparing a means of getting her children back to the village. She had Genma, Soun, Kuno, and Ryouga each prepare a travois with which to pull the four back when they were awake again. Unsurprisingly after seeing her temper flare earlier, no one complained at her orders. The sun was setting, dropping directly behind the home of the Jusenkyo Guide when the four Saotome children again stirred to wakefulness. "Aiyah! Ranma, you awake now. We get married tonight!" Shampoo eagerly said when her patient groggily looked up at her. Glomping him in relief at his recovery and anticipation of finally winning her husband, she allowed herself a moment of weakness and cried in relief. Still disoriented, her patient alertly said, "Uh, Shampoo, good morning?" "No, it evening now, husband," Shampoo giggled as she lovingly held him. Akane watched as her patient began opening his eyes and decided to treat him with a wake-up kiss. With a mischievous grin, she leaned over and began kissing Ranma on the mouth. Still asleep, he reached up, grabbed her, and pulled her into a tight embrace, deepening the kiss all the while. As she began to resist, he roused enough to realize what he was doing and with whom. Immediately, he jumped back and said, "Akane, heh, um, I didn't mean to, um, you know, um..." Angry a little at his reaction, Akane looked at his face. The abject fear she saw written there made her laugh out loud. "That's right, Ranma. You didn't mean to anything, I was kissing you!" "Huh? Oh, yeah!" He said while trying to cover his confusion. "K-K-Kodachi?" stammered the other male Ranma as he regained consciousness and saw who was caring for him. "Yes, my Ranma-sama?" Kodachi demurely asked him. "What may I do for you?" "Uh, why is my head in your lap?" he asked in bewilderment. "The pillow that the Amazons provided was insufficient for your noble head. With nothing else suitable, I used my humble self as your pillow," she said as she wiped a cool cloth across his brow. "I hope that my lap was sufficiently soft for you." "Yeah, I guess," he carefully answered. At the same time as the others awakened, Ranko also came back to consciousness. Opening her eyes, she saw Ukyo sitting a short distance off to her right with a basin of water and short strips of cloth ready to be put onto her forehead. Taking the cool swathe off of herself, she handed it to her friend as she said, "Thanks, Ukyo. I don't think I'll be needing these anymore." "I'm glad, sugar," was the softly spoken answer. Ukyo smiled at Ranko, but avoided looking her in the eyes. She felt almost dirty in not being able to use the Spring of Drowned Boy water on herself. Even though Ranko had specifically requested her to not use it, her feelings of guilt and failure made her afraid to look her friend directly. Seeing that their charges were now awake, Nodoka said, "Genma, I'd like you to pull Ranko back. Soun, why don't you pull Akane's Ranma back? Kuno, would you please take Kodachi's Ranma? Finally, if you don't mind Ryouga, would you pull Shampoo's Ranma?" Upon hearing her mother's words, Ranko immediately yelled, "There's no way that I'm going to let him near me! I want nothing to do with the man who betrayed me!" "It wasn't my fault, Ranko!" Genma begged of his daughter. "You know how the master is. He knew something was up and threatened me if I didn't tell him." "Pops," Ranko's voice softened, but the vehemence and hate in it intensified until it hung palpable in the air. "The 'Master' wouldn't have known anything was up unless he was told by someone. You sold me out... again." "Ranko, you know how the Master is! He can take one look at me and see that I am hiding something!" Genma was getting very worried; he'd never seen his child like this. "Because of you, old man," Ranko's venom poured forth. "I'm now a girl. You raised me to be a man among men, and now I'm a girl. Even if I use the Nannichuan, I'll only be a girl CURSED to be a boy. For your own sake, stay away from me." "Ranko, forgive your father!" Genma desperately asked. He was on his knees, bowing for forgiveness. "No, I'll never forgive you, father," Ranko's fury blazed as she stood facing her father. "I'd rather die than be helped by you." Genma didn't know how to respond to her and decided to stay quiet. The others were shocked and slightly ashamed from overhearing Ranko's angry outburst. Feeling sorry for her, Ryouga moved his travois next to Ranko. "Mr. Saotome, why don't you carry Shampoo's Ranma? I think I'll pull Ranko back to the village." Genma silently acquiesced and began dragging his sled towards Shampoo. Shampoo felt her husband-to-be start to tense as his father came closer to where they sat. Jumping up, she grabbed the travois from him, while saying, "Let Shampoo show how strong she is for husband. Shampoo will bring him to village." With broken eyes, Genma looked up at the others. Only Cologne and Nodoka would look him in the eyes and the anger he saw inscribed on their faces made him shiver in fear. There was nothing that Happosai could have done to him worse than what he saw promised in the eyes of his wife. As everyone made ready to leave, Nodoka turned and told him, "Pack everything up and bring it back to the village. I thought I knew you, Genma. I didn't. How could you sell out your own son to Happosai of all people?" Eyes turning to steel, she glared at him and continued in an icy voice, "We have much to discuss Genma. The least of which is this betrayal." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Halt! Who goes there?" came the Guard's voice from above the gate. "Cologne, an elder of the village seeks admittance for herself and her party," she answered in a way that bespoke of a ritual greeting. "Welcome back, Elder! May your journey have been victorious!" was the happy answer. "Open the gates!" As they all came through the gates, Cologne stopped and spoke to Nodoka in a voice that all could hear, "I see that your children are again asleep, daughter. My new grandchildren need their rest this night. I suggest that we all go to bed and face the new day fresh." "Who will watch after my Ranma-sama?" Kodachi asked protectively. "I will send for healers to sit with them all night. They will be well taken care of, do not worry child. Please, all of you, go to your rooms and try to sleep. Tomorrow will be another long and arduous day, as the last male Ranma must be split." With that said, she dismissed them to their beds. "Ukyo, would you stay for a moment?" "I'd be happy to, Cologne," Ukyo answered politely. After everyone else left, Cologne again spoke, "So child, are you going to use the Nannichuan on yourself?" "I thought I could and would. But as I was helping Ranko today, I found that I don't want to father children or to be a husband. I want to be a woman, wife, and mother. I asked Ranko to marry me last night, but she turned me down and took half of my water." The young chef started crying softly. "I don't Ranma to go through that torture again just for me, but I don't want to be a man. I don't know what to do." "Child, you are brave, braver than most. Not many would even consider what you have offered. Do not be ashamed if you cannot fulfill a pledge that was turned down," Cologne said soothingly, while reaching out to hold the confused young woman next to her. "Shh, Ranko would forever feel guilty if you were to curse yourself. It is better this way. When one feels guilt too long, it turns into anger. Eventually, you and she would have broken apart from it. I didn't live to be as old as I am, child, without learning a little about how the heart works." "You gave Ranko a chance to help save her own self-respect today. How would you feel if you had to watch part of yourself go through that torment without helping in some way? You gave her that chance and she will always be thankful for it." Cologne continued to comfort Ukyo. "Do you really think so?" stammered Ukyo. "Yes, child. I know so," Cologne said as she led Ukyo to where she was staying. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The next morning, the sun cheerfully lifted over the Chinese plains to the east of the Amazon village. Another glorious day began spreading itself across the countryside. Ss if a painter had spread every imaginable shade of color from red through yellow across the bottom of the sky, the sun dutifully rose. The farmers paused in their labors to admire the show. Ravenous, Ranko and her brothers made their exhausted way towards the dining room of Cologne's home. There they found everyone already gathered. Spotting Genma, Ranko said, "Get him out of here. I won't eat with him in here." "Daughter, I'm sorry. I..." "DON'T CALL ME DAUGHTER!" Ranko yelled in anger. "The only reason that I'm a girl is because of you. Do you even know that? Or care? As far as I'm concerned, you are not my father and I never want to see you again. From now on you are just some jerk who always used to use me as a child." Cringing back from her anger, Genma slowly retreated out of the house. He knew when to fight and when to run. This was definitely a situation to retreat from. Watching him leave, Ranko didn't notice the tears tracking down her cheeks. She'd always loved the old man and forgiven him his sins. He was her father, after all, and children always love their parents. This time, he'd sold her out one time too many and too cheaply. If he had allowed her to be cured and not let Happosai interfere, she'd still love him and acknowledge him. Letting, no... helping Happosai get her stuck forever as a woman, was unforgivable. Turning back to the others and trying to smile, still unaware of her tears, Ranko said with false bravado, "Have you told them your names yet?" "Uh, no, I haven't. Have you?" Shampoo's Ranma asked Kodachi's Ranma. "No, I've been asleep, remember?" the other responded sarcastically. "Hey, you don't have ta insult me!" the first started to stand. "Hey, cut that out!" Ranko frowned at them. "Just tell them what you've decided to be called, okay?" Abashed, they both hung their heads, while saying, "Sure." "Since I'm going to be Shampoo's husband, I decided to take the Chinese version of my name and be called Luan Ma." Luan Ma said wistfully glancing at Akane. As soon as he said Shampoo, she glommed onto him with a sigh of happiness. "Well, I'm going to be called Shima. I kinda like the sound of 'Death Horse'," Shima said as he sat next to Kodachi. He never raised his eyes from the floor, while reaching for his rice bowl and quietly and slowly began to eat. "When I jump into the spring again today, I'm going to be creating Ranchan for you Ukyo. Your pet name for me will be his name," Ranma smiled at Ukyo while embracing Akane. Ukyo smiled back, not missing the irony of the situation. "There is much to be done today. Please, eat quickly so we can get started. Ranma, you need to go to Jusenkyo and be split one final time." Cologne paused with obvious sympathy written on her face. Her features hardening, she spoke again, "Ranko, I will begin your training for your upcoming challenge with Myrrh. As a Musk warrior, he is almost equal to Herb in skill, his strength surpasses Ryouga's, and he is very adroit in defending against chi attacks. He cannot to be taken lightly and you must train hard to win. You must win for both your and Ryouga's sake." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ja ne, Mike Allen http://home1.gte.net/allenmk Congratulations to the Name the Ranma Contest Winners: Ranko: Paul Steele, Trom, Lord Archive, Brian, Rob Barba (Bonus points to Rob for coming up with the Little Orchid variation.) Shima: Lord Archive Luan Ma: Disruptor (Bonus points for most variation), SKJAM, Bombadil Goh Last, but not least, thanks to my pre-readers.