Travels, Training and Trials - Prologue
Travels, Training and Trials
A Ranma 1/2 fanfic by June "KaraOhki" Geraci
August 18, 1999
Ranma 1/2 was created by Rumiko Takahashi, and its characters belong to her. I'm merely borrowing them. The story below is for entertainment purposes only, and may not be used commercially.
Note: [ ] indicates thoughts
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PROLOGUE
The proud parents gazed at their newborn son. A new life, with so many possibilities. They would raise him well.
That was the way it started.
Then one day Genma Saotome told his wife that he wanted to take their son off to "train him in the way of the Art". Nodoka argued in vain, and finally gave in after her husband had agreed to her demand to bring her son back a true man. It wasn't until after he left that she thought about the other side of the coin.
Had her husband left her because she wasn't womanly enough? Was he unhappy with her as a wife and mother? The question would haunt her for years.
She found that the time passed slowly and painfully. For a long time, she patiently watched her mailbox, certain that her husband would write to her. When no letters came, she sought out an old friend, someone who would understand her unhappiness.
Nodoka had waited too long. She found Soun Tendo mourning his wife, and his three daughters devastated.
Kasumi was valiantly trying to take care of her father and sisters. It was evident that she'd worked herself into a state of exhaustion, so Nodoka put her to bed and forced her to stay there. Then Nodoka sought out Nabiki and Akane.
"Nabiki, Akane, you have to help your sister."
Nabiki looked a little irritated, but she had been raised to respect older people, so she merely nodded. Akane, for her part, was eager to help, and had no trouble telling Nodoka what she wanted to do.
"I want to cook, Auntie Nodoka!"
Soon she had both girls in the kitchen, and was giving basic cooking lessons. Nabiki did quite well, and Akane would have, if she hadn't been so overenthusiastic. It would take some time to teach her to slow down and follow directions.
As time passed, Nodoka took all three girls under her wing, teaching them to cooperate with each other in taking care of the household. Each of them had their own talents, but Nodoka insisted that learning all aspects of household management was essential.
Nodoka still felt that she herself had been lacking in some way, and that this had caused her husband to leave her. She vowed that the same fate would not befall these three girls.
Of the three sisters, Nodoka found Akane to be the most difficult to deal with. She was a mixture of little girl and tomboy, insisting that her father train her to be a true martial artist. It had been the cause of more than one disagreement between the two.
Nodoka arrived one day to find Akane beating on a practice dummy she�d set up in the yard. She quietly watched for a while, before commenting.
"Dear, martial arts is not a very ladylike thing to do."
"Mommy was a martial artist. Mommy was a lady. If Mommy could do it, so can I."
Nodoka couldn�t think of a way to respond to that statement.
*****
Ranma pulled his arm out from beneath the blanket, and patted his father�s knee.
"Read it again, Daddy?"
"It's getting a little too dark, Ranma. I can't see the words. Time to go to sleep."
Genma tucked his son in, and kissed his forehead. Nodoka had packed a couple of Ranma�s favorite storybooks when they left, and his son insisted on having a story read to him each night. He was using the books to teach the boy to read, and Ranma was making rapid progress.
They had been traveling for some time now, visiting dojo after dojo. Genma intended to teach his son everything he knew and everything they could learn as they traveled. He missed his wife, and occasionally entertained the idea of going home to her, but the promise he had made held him back. If his son wasn't "manly" enough to satisfy the agreement he'd made with Nodoka both of their lives would be in danger. A little part of him told him that Nodoka would never hurt her only child, but he didn't want to take the risk.
Genma had the idea that if Ranma could learn something that was unique-- something that no one else could master-- the promise would be fulfilled. That was the reason he kept moving: to find that technique, and have his son learn it.
*****
Genma walked through the woods, followed by Ranma. Ranma kept turning around to look toward the dojo they had just left, and after a little while his father noticed that he had fallen behind.
"What are you looking at, boy?"
"Why did we have to leave, Daddy? I liked the dojo, and I liked the Master."
Genma frowned. The last thing he wanted to do was explain to a six year old why they were asked to leave the dojo they'd been staying at.
"It was time to move on, Ranma. I expect you to learn as much as you can, everywhere we go, and that means we aren't going to stay anywhere for very long."
Back at the dojo the pair had just left, the master sat trying to meditate. He sighed, and abandoned the effort.
[I would have kept the boy if I could have found a way to get his father to give him up. He has potential, and though his father is trying hard, he has little idea of how to raise a child.]
Master Shirato wondered if Ranma would remember what he told him before he left.
"Come back some day, my son. There will always be a place in my house for you."
"Thank you, Master. Maybe Daddy will bring me back one day."
"Perhaps he will, but I would welcome you here whether you came with or without him."
The boy had looked confused, but had nodded and joined his father outside.
The sound of running feet brought the master out of his thoughts, as one of his servants burst into the room.
"Someone has been in your library!"
"Is anything missing?"
"I'm not sure, Master. Please come look."
There were books scattered everywhere, and it took some time before the two men finished putting them back where they belonged. It was then that they realized which book was gone, and who must have taken it.
"Master, he wouldn't try that, would he?"
The Master's face was grim. "Neko-ken? I believe he would."
"We have to find him!"
Master Shirato sent out men in every direction, searching for the Saotomes. He remained in the dojo, waiting.
One by one, his servants returned, having failed to find Genma and his son. Several days later the last one returned, carrying a horrible tale.
"I passed through a village, Master. They told me of a boy who had been repeatedly thrown into a pit of hungry cats. He was terribly injured, and they believed that he had gone mad."
The Master buried his face in his hands, and wept.
"I'm sorry, Ranma. I should have forced your father to leave you with me."
*****
"Daddy? Daddy! NO!"
The woman sitting beside Ranma's bed patted his hand, and left the room.
"I think he's waking now."
The man sitting on the doorstep nodded and went inside to his son. The woman remained outside, thinking.
A few days earlier she had been startled when someone had come to her door and pounded on it. The man now inside her house--Genma Saotome--had been standing there, holding a little boy in his arms.
"Please, can you help us? We were attacked by a wild animal."
The man's face and arms were crisscrossed with scratches, and the boy looked worse. He was positively covered with scratches. When she had undressed the child to tend to his injuries, she had also discovered that he had been bitten several times.
At first the woman had thought that the man was concerned for his son in the way any father would be, but as she tended Ranma through the fever he developed she began to change her mind. Genma seemed to view Ranma's fever as a weakness, and she more than once caught him looking at his son with what seemed to be impatience or disgust. Once she had to leave the room to get a cool cloth for Ranma's head and overheard his father speaking to him when she returned.
"We have no time for this, boy! A martial artist is strong at all times, and you are abominably weak! I have no patience for weaklings."
The woman shivered. She knew that Genma would take Ranma and go as soon as he was able to get up and walk. The child needed rest.
She was right. A day later, she woke to find them gone. She was disappointed for more than one reason. Ranma could have used a few more days to recuperate, and the woman had wanted him to meet her niece, Ukyo. She and her father were expected to visit, and she had been so sure that the children would have become good friends.
*****
Genma kept moving. He was filled with a dread that he could not put words to. He'd thought to make his son the ultimate martial artist by teaching him the Neko-ken. Instead, he'd instilled a fear of cats in Ranma that was proving impossible to overcome. This was a weakness, and he couldn't afford to have his son show any weakness.
From that point on, Genma began to change. The gentle father in him eventually disappeared, replaced by a strict disciplinarian who allowed no room for weakness. Somehow he would train that weak spot out of his son, and make him into the man his mother wanted him to be.
*****
A year later, Ranma swept out yet another dojo. He and his father had been there several days, as usual having promised to do whatever work the master would assign them in exchange for meals, and a place to sleep. As usual, his father had disappeared, leaving him to do the work.
The boy's face was a mixture of anger and confusion. The unconditional affection he'd had for his father had disappeared after the Neko-ken training. Now he regarded his father with less respect and much suspicion.
Ranma liked traveling from place to place. He liked what he was learning from the masters at every dojo they visited, and he liked what his father had to teach him. What bothered him was the way they would be treated every time they left.
Whenever they arrived at a new place he and his father would be welcomed warmly. Whenever they left it seemed that everyone was glad to see them go, and he couldn�t understand why.
Ranma finished sweeping and sat down on the steps. He was so busy thinking that he didn't notice when the Master sat down next to him.
"You look troubled. Is something bothering you?"
At first, Ranma was hesitant to confide in the master. The man patiently drew him out with gentle questions, and he eventually began to speak more openly. The master let Ranma talk and then pinpointed what he felt was the most important thing he'd told him.
"So, you are still angry at your father for what he did to you?"
"Yes."
"Have you told him?"
The fear on Ranma's face was enough of an answer, without his whispered "No".
"I understand."
The master sat for a few minutes, wondering how much a seven year old would understand of what he wished to teach him. [There's no harm in trying. He's an intelligent boy]
At that point Ranma got up and started to walk back into the dojo.
"Excuse me, Master. I have chores to finish."
"No you don't, Ranma. You've done all the work by yourself this morning. Let your father do the rest when he comes back." [He'll probably come back when he thinks you've done it all.] "I'd like to talk with you for a while."
The boy's curious gaze made the master smile.
"Your father has made some mistakes, and that's made you angry at him. Don't say anything--just listen. You still have to show him respect, because he is your father. He has much skill as a martial artist, and I'm sure he will teach you well, but there are some things I don't want you to learn from him."
Ranma looked a little confused, but nodded and waited for the Master to continue.
"I can see that you're a hard worker. You've done everything I've asked you to do. Your father hasn't. Don't learn to be lazy from him. Don't learn to be dishonest, either."
"Yes, sir."
Over the next few days, Ranma spent much of his time with the older man, following him around like a puppy. The master taught him some simple katas, but spent most of their time together trying to impress Ranma with the concepts of honesty, civility, and respect. The boy soaked it up like a sponge. He also allowed him to spend as much time in the library as he liked, guiding him to books that were appropriate for a boy his age.
A few evenings later, the master sat with one of his assistants.
"Has Saotome done any of the work we've assigned to him this week?"
"Some of it. I believe that he thinks it is good training to have his son do the work instead."
"He has some strange ideas about what is proper training, doesn't he? Perhaps it is time for him to move on."
"The cook would like that. I've never seen anyone able to eat as much as Saotome can."
The next morning, father and son were on the road again. Again, Ranma had been sent off with a message he'd heard before, and would hear many times during the coming years.
"You'll be welcome back at any time, Ranma."
*****
Ranma learned quickly that the lessons he'd learned from the master had to be hidden from his father. All he'd done was mention some of the concepts he'd been taught, and his father had taken a fit.
"Don't waste your time with philosophy, Ranma! The Art is all that matters, and the Art is all you have time for! Do you understand, boy?"
A nod from Ranma seemed to satisfy Genma, and they moved on.
As the years passed after that incident, Ranma was careful to keep his thoughts to himself. He spent as much private time with the masters of the various dojos they visited as he could, but he kept the person he was becoming a secret from his father. As they traveled together, Ranma learned history, science, language, and art from the masters he stayed with. He read everything he could get his hands on, mostly at night when his father was asleep.
It was as if there were two of him: There was a Ranma who was a mirror of his father, interested only in the Art, and nothing else. Then there was the hidden Ranma, who had learned that there was more to life than martial arts, and who was well on his way to being a man.
Ranma had discovered that his father also liked visiting the libraries of the dojos they visited, limiting his research to books on martial arts. Ranma knew that his father wanted to learn or develop something unique, and respected his persistence in searching for it.
*****
It was becoming harder and harder to find a place to stay. The years had led them from place to place, and it seemed that every dojo they visited had heard of the Saotomes
Ranma hoped that their deteriorating circumstances would make his father decide to go home. He no longer remembered where it was. He couldn't even remember if he had any family to go back to. Instead, his father told him that they were leaving Japan.
Some days later, the pair gazed at the training grounds of Jusenkyo. It certainly looked different from any other place they had been to.
Ranma was trying to listen to what the guide had to say when his father challenged him. Accustomed to responding instantly, he accepted the challenge.
Later, reflecting on what had happened, Ranma realized that he should have waited to hear what the guide had to say. He resolved to take his advice in the future. They were approaching a settled area, and Ranma took the time to ask about it.
"Sirs, this Amazon village. You be careful here! Women very violent."
Genma grunted. He'd been walking a long way, and was tired and hungry, not to mention hot. Pandas had WAY too much fur, as far as he was concerned.
Ranma was also tired and hungry, but not too tired to listen to what the guide had to say. [Amazons, he said?] Ranma had learned about Amazons from one of the masters they had stayed with. For once, Ranma was glad she was in girl form. If they had walked into an Amazon village as men, the women might attack. As it was, they were all gathered together in the center of town, having some kind of contest.
Genma didn't care about the contest. All he could see was the big table full of food. He reached for it, but Ranma grabbed both of his arms, looked at the guide, and asked for advice.
"What does the sign mean?"
"Food is prize. You must not eat."
Ranma struggled to keep his starving father away from the food. He heard a roar from the crowd, and turned his head to see that the contest had ended. The young woman who had won gave a gesture of triumph, and ran toward them. She looked at Ranma and the panda curiously, and spoke to them. Ranma turned to the guide and waited for him to translate.
"She says this her prize for being champion. She asks who you are."
"Whatever you do, don't tell her we're men!"
The guide introduced his clients as a young woman and her pet, touring the area. The Amazon woman introduced herself as "Shampoo".
[Odd name,] thought Ranma. "Ask her if they could spare some food, or if there is any work I can do for food."
The translation of her answer pleased Ranma very much:
"We never turn hungry women away."
A short time later, Ranma and her "pet" were on the road again, with full stomachs.
*****
�Auntie Saotome, when I said I wanted to go to college I meant it!�
�Kasumi, I think you should be concentrating more on learning to be a good wife. A college education isn�t necessary.�
Kasumi finally lost her temper.
�A good wife? Can I use you as a model for a good wife?�
Nodoka suddenly felt as if she was standing on rather shaky ground.
�Er. . .�
�I didn�t think so. Mother may have died when I was very young, but I remember the relationship she had with Father. They did everything together. That�s why he misses her so much. I want that kind of a relationship with To-my husband. That�s why I want to go to college--so I can work with him.�
Nodoka hadn�t missed Kasumi�s slip of the tongue, and tried hard to remember if any of the boys in her school had names that started with �To,� but couldn�t think of any. If she had someone particular in mind, she was keeping him a secret. Nodoka would have continued her lecture about the proper place of a wife, but didn�t feel able to. Kasumi�s barbed question about her own abilities as a wife made her feel too vulnerable.
*****
�Nabiki, I would like to talk with you.�
�No time right now, Auntie! I have to get ready for my date.�
Nabiki dashed upstairs to change clothes. A few minutes later she ran back down, just in time to greet her boyfriend at the door.
�See you later!�
Nodoka frowned. Nabiki had been different ever since she�d entered high school. She�d gone from a girl who didn�t care about the opposite sex, to one who had two boyfriends.
Nabiki had always taken her responsibilities at home seriously, doing her assigned chores, and helping manage the budget, which seemed to be her particular talent. Lately she�d been slipping a bit, and her sisters had been forced to remind her when it was her turn to cook, or do the wash. Nabiki had taken these reminders good-naturedly, but Nodoka felt that it shouldn�t be necessary to remind her at all. She�d have to get Nabiki to sit still long enough to talk to her.
*****
Nodoka watched as Akane stood beside her father in the dojo, performing her kata in exact unison with his.
Her skills had improved steadily since she�d made it plain to her father that she wanted to take martial arts seriously. The challenge of training her had lifted him from his depression, or at least most of it. Nodoka knew that her friend still missed his wife, but he had stopped his constant crying a long, long time ago.
At one time Akane had asked her if she was going to marry her father, and Nodoka had been forced to explain that she was already married. She�d seen the confusion on Akane�s face when she had told her that her husband was traveling with their son. Akane had asked Nodoka when they would come back, and had shown a flash of annoyance when she had sadly told her that she didn�t know.
All three Tendo girls had shown the independent spirit that their mother had, resisting Nodoka�s efforts to mold them into what she wanted them to be.
She hesitated to be as firm with them as she would have liked to, since she wasn�t their mother. Hopefully, she had managed to teach them something.
*****
Akane dashed into the house, took off her shoes, and ran to the hall table. Maybe today she�d have a letter. She was delighted to find a letter from Nodoka, and ran upstairs to read it in the privacy of her room.
Nodoka had been away for several months, caring for a sick relative. Akane missed her, especially since she had started experiencing trouble in school. A huge crowd of boys would wait at the school gates for her every morning, fighting for the right to date her. Akane�s immediate response was violence, and this bothered her, because she was sure that Nodoka would have found a superior way to handle the situation.
[I hate boys,] she thought. [No, I don�t hate boys. I just hate STUPID boys.]
Akane read her letter, and spent quite some time answering it. She explained her problem in detail, and asked Nodoka for her thoughts. Akane put the letter aside, and got started on her homework. She was absorbed in it when her father knocked on her door.
�Please come downstairs, Akane. I have something to tell you and your sisters.�
�Okay, Daddy.�