Chapter 1

The rain had not stopped for three days. The red haired girl glared at it. She never minded the rain but it was now the bane of her natural life. Not that it was her fault, mind you. It was the fault of the man that she called a father.

'Famous training ground, my ass.' She thought angrily. She looked at the tea kettle that she currently had on a small fire. She had just put it on and it would not be long before it was warm enough to use. As she waited, she thought back to the truth that was kept for her.

Flashback

Ranma wanted so badly to beat his father into a pulp and leave his ass. This training journey had just ended badly. He would think that his stupid father would have learned a few Chinese words just in case. But no, the idiot couldn't read a single word and now he had a girl's chest whenever he got hit with cold water. He glared at the two mounts that was his chest. Already, this new body had given him trouble.

About three days ago, he and his father had just dodged that crazy purple haired Amazon. He couldn't believe that those women in that village were such sore losers. Granted, he shouldn't have eaten the prize that was hers by right but he challenged her and won. Now, as the guide from Jusenkyo said as he dragged him and his father away, because he defeated her, she was going to hunt him down and kill him. What kind of thing was that?

Ranma just sighed and made his way to his sleeping bag. He tripped over his father's pack as he made his way to his bag. He growled and was about to kick the pack away when he noticed something. It was a black book. He picked it up and opened it. As he read, he began to see that it was a journal. He snickered as he thought of his father kept such a girly thing. He continued to read just to get some black-mailing material.

"I will have to abandon Nekoken (Cat Fist) training. The boy can use it but he needs to be scared into it. What a useless technique! Perhaps I should have unstuck that last page and kept on reading. How was I suppose to know that it would make him insane? Then that boy had the nerve to attack me! No respect for his elders!"

Ranma scoffed at this entry. He already knew about the Nekoken as he was the one who found the warning in the manual. Ranma continued reading.

"That okonomiyaki cart earned me quite a lot of money. It should keep me in sake for a good while. That foolish Kuonji family, like I would have taken a girl with me or have her marry him. My boy doesn't need such distractions. Besides, all women are weak. She would have never had able to keep up with us. It is a good thing that I had Ranma make that decision. Granted, he's only six but he chose okonomiyaki over Ukyo so I don't have to feel responsible."

Ranma was in shock. He did remember Ukyo. He was actually a she? But she didn't have boobs like he had seen on girls. They were to be married as well? He did remember their parting. He thought she was saying good-bye. Ranma returned back to the journal.

"I can't believe that they nearly caught me. Stupid boy, should have kept quiet instead of making a scene. I have to get away from here before that family catches up with me. Still, that pickle and bowl of rice was so good. It was worth selling my son into marriage for."

A pickle and a bowl of rice, that son of a bitch sold him for a bowl of rice and a pickle. Ranma was enraged by this. He continued to read and found out that his father sold him to many families, all to fill his fat stomach. He skipped the rest of the journal and went to the final entry.

"What am I going to do? Nodoka will kill us both! How was I suppose to know that the training grounds were cursed? Well, I just got to make sure that he never sees his mother again. If she ever finds out that he changes into a girl, she will fulfill that seppuku pledge Ranma and I signed. Maybe if I get him married to one of Soun's daughters then it would appease her. Then I get to keep my head and live off my son. I will have to make plans once I reach Hong Kong."

That was it! Ranma could no longer contain his anger. There was no way he was going to stay with that fat bastard after learning about this. Screw him and his plans. He quickly grabbed his pack and ran out of the cave.

Present

'Stupid pops, stupid curse, stupid training journey,' he kept going over and over again. He glared at the tea kettle, wanting it to heat up already. Suddenly, he turned when he saw a wolf enter the cave. The wolf growled at her and she returned it. She was already in a bad mood and if this wolf thought he was going to get a free meal, then he was in for a surprise. Ranma grabbed the kettle and pour some water on himself to change.

The wolf saw this and looked at the girl turned boy in surprise. Ranma was about to kick the wolf out when he started to notice that the wolf was no longer acting aggressive. He also noticed that the wolf was signaling to his kettle. Curious, Ranma poured the remaining water on the wolf and was shocked to see a man.

"Wow, thanks for the water." The man said with a smile.

After dragging his pack inside the cave, the man dressed himself and sat by the fire to get warm. Ranma noticed that the man was not Chinese or Japanese. He was much older than he was and he looked like he did a lot of digging.

"So where are you from?" Ranma asked.

"I'm from France. I'm an archeologist and I was looking for Jusenkyo. As you see, I found it." The man joked.

"Count yourself lucky, at least you turn into something cool. I get a rack." Ranma said with little emotion.

"Tell that to my wife. I know that my kids would like my new form but my wife will be pissed. She's always saying that I'll get in trouble on one of these trips but the tale of Jusenkyo was just too fascinating to pass up." He said.

"How can you act so calm about this? We're freaks!" Ranma shouted. The man looked at him in shock.

"Is that what you consider yourself? Granted, I did get a little emotional when I got cursed but this is not the end of the world."

"It is for me and it's all my stupid pops fault." Ranma said.

"Why don't you explain?" the man said. Ranma unloaded on him about what he learned about his father. The proposals, the scams, the abuse, his mother, it all came out like a flowing river. The man said nothing and allowed Ranma to vent and rant. When Ranma was out of steam, he focused his attention on the tired Ranma.

"Wow, I just can't believe that he did that to you. And you say that he all this to make you the strongest martial artist in the world?" Ranma nodded at the question. "I guess I see why you're so angry about your situation, including the Amazon problem. I've ran into a couple of them. Anyway, what are you planning to do now?"

"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked.

"What I mean, is what are you going to do for this point on? I would assume that you're not going back to you father." He said.

"Damn straight,"

"So what are you plans now? Are you going to continue on with your training or are you going to find a cure for the curse?" he asked.

"Well, I haven't thought about. I was just so angry with my pops that I just wanted to get away from him." Ranma admitted.

"Well, just in case you decide to do anything, I would advise you to learn Chinese so that you have an easier time. Here, you can have this book. It's a Chinese-Japanese dictionary."

"But you're not Japanese." Ranma said.

"I carry a lot of books." He stated.

The next day, Ranma and the professor parted ways. Ranma didn't get much sleep as he thought about what to do next. There was no way he was going to look for his father or have him find him. One thing that he had no doubt about was that he was going to find a cure for his curse. He figured that if he dealt with this first, then things would become clear. He found a dirt road and began to head in a random direction. He pulled out the dictonary that the professor gave him and began learning a few words. He wasn't going to be caught unaware like his father.

Ranma had been walking around the Bayankala mountain range for three days before he came across a village. He was happy for this as he was running low on supplies. He entered the village and asked someone for help. His Chinese was still awful but he managed to get some help from some people. While he usually would have stolen some supplies, he decided to work for it. The shopkeeper was more than willing to accept some extra help at his farm.

After two days of hard labor, he got his supplies and a bit of money. He asked the village elder about cures for Jusenkyo. The man had nothing for him and directed him to another village that was two days travel. Ranma thanked him and was gone. Ranma furthered his Chinese so that he would not sound like an idiot when he asked for help.

Two days later, he reached the village. He asked to speak with the village elder who turned out to be the village's martial artist. Ranma had asked about Jusenkyo and some training. The man agreed to teach for a little while but did not know of any cures for Jusenkyo. Ranma spent two days in the village, working and training. He left the village, this time he had a map of the region and villages that were in his path. He quickly made his way toward the next village.

One day it rained and Ranma found shelter inside a temple. There she met an blind woman who looked very intrigued by her presense. The two talked and the woman gave her a free aura reading. She was not too surprised by her double aura as she told her that she knew about Jusenkyo. Before he could ask, she regretfully told him that she knew no cure. She was very shocked and curious as to why she had the aura of a cat. Ranma told her about the Nekoken and she was applauded with Ranma's father. She did offer her a meditative exercise to help him cope with the fear she has for cats. Ranma took it and thank her for it.

This is how Ranma spent his travels in the Qinghai Province. He kept traveling from village to village in hopes for a cure. He swore that he would not be leaving China until he found it.

Ranma waved good-bye to the kids of the village. He was very happy about the information that he had just gotten. After a month of traveling, he finally had a solid lead toward a cure. He didn't like the fact that he had to go back into the jungle but that was where the Musk people lived. The villager elder told him that the Musk always used the waters of Jusenkyo. He couldn't elaborate on it but Ranma didn't care. He just hoped that they would be willing to help him. He picked up his pace to reach the path that would lead him to the Musk.

Suddenly, his danger sense alerted him to an attack. He got into a fighting stance and searched the area for who it was. Something jumped out to him and Ranma easily defended himself by kicking the person in the face. The enemy hit the ground but suddenly rolled to his feet. Once Ranma got a look at the person who attacked him, Ranma growled in annoyance.

"Oh great, it's you. What the hell do you want pops?" Ranma asked.

"Good to see that you have kept up with the art boy. Now, it is time to leave this place. Our journey must come to an end and we must return to Japan." Genma ordered.

"Why, so you can marry me off to one of Soun Tendo's daughters?" Ranma said. Genma looked surprised that Ranma knew that. "It would be a good place to hide out from mom right? Wouldn't want her to know about Jusenkyo or the curse right?"

"How do you," Genma said in shock. Ranma took a step toward him, fury burning in his eyes.

"I wonder though, why honor this engagement pop? What about the Kuonjis or the Kaitos or that nice family that you sold me too for a bowl of rice and a pickle?" Ranma snarled as his aura came alive. Genma gulped and took a step back.

"Now son, please understand, I did this for the sake of the art." Genma said worried.

"Is that so? Well then, let me show you what I have added to the art during my travels." Ranma said. He moved quickly and hit Genma with several strikes to his gut. Genma slid and fell to a knee. Genma emptied the contents of his stomach. He looked up to his son who gave him a dirty look. "Let's get something straight old man, I will no longer become your puppet. No way will I allow you to live off my hard work. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a lead on a cure and I'm going to check it out. See ya Genma."

Genma looked angry as Ranma walked away from him. How dare he try and deny him his comfortable life? If the boy believed that he would stand for this, he was sorely mistaken. Genma ran at Ranma for behind and reared his fist to knock him out. Ranma saw him coming and lashed out with a kick. His kick went straight through Genma which surprised him. He was suddenly struck several times in the back. He gasped and fell to the ground paralyzed. Genma reappeared like a ghost and began to tied up his son. When he was done, he hoisted the boy up to his shoulder.

He didn't know how the boy learned all these things but it didn't matter. He was going to marry a Tendo whether he liked it or not. Genma made his way toward Hong Kong to get back home to Japan.