Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2.

AN: Look! I actually remembered the disclaimer this time!

Prologue

Genma threw Ranma in one more time. If the ungrateful boy didn't learn the Neko-ken this time, he wouldn't know what to do. Not long after he had thrown Ranma in to it, an unearthly yowl came from the pit. Genma looked up happily, thinking that Ranma had finally learned the technique. He watched as the bars covering the pit were slashed into pieces. He would have been overjoyed, but Ranma chose that moment to come out of the pit. The expression on Ranma's face would have made demon's feel fear and Genma was no exception. He turned and tried to run.

Genma woke up several hours later with claw marks all over his body. He was about to start looking for his son when his self-preservation instincts kicked in and he convinced himself that it was not at all cowardly to wait a while. No, he had all kinds of things to do first. He could find his wayward son later.

Several days later, Ranma and Genma left. Ranma had been with an old woman who had managed to break him out of the Neko-ken and Genma had come in the middle of the night to get him out. Ranma hadn't wanted to leave, but Genma had given him no choice.

> > > > > > >

After the Neko-ken, Ranma no longer trusted his father at all. Ever since he had gone through it, he had taken every opportunity he could to read anything he could get his hands on. Any time Genma objected, Ranma would pound him into the ground and continue reading. After many of these incidents, Genma had learned to just leave it alone. He couldn't even object to it under the pretence that Ranma's fighting suffered. If anything, Ranma just got better.

It did not take long for many of the views that Genma had tried to beat into Ranma's head to be proven wrong. In fact, after some of the things he read, he realized that not only were females equal in many ways to males, in some cases they were stronger. The next time Genma tried to say girls were weak, Ranma pounded him into the ground.

The two of them had arrived at Jusenkyo. Ranma was bored with all this and just wished he could get rid of Genma. He barely listened as the guide talked about the springs and how they were cursed. Ranma turned and looked at Genma. "All right, old man. Is there a point to this, or can I go?"

Genma frowned. "We are going to spar over the springs. Unless of course you're afraid of getting dunked. Then we can just go now."

Ranma yawned in boredom. He didn't care what Genma said. "Whatever old man. Let's just get this over with. I don't feel like listening to you whining." He paused a moment and a malicious smirk crossed his face. "You know, its amazing how much you sound like a little girl yourself at times."

Genma's face purpled slightly in fury, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he turned and jumped for the nearest pole. Ranma joined him seconds later. Both ignored the guide's desperate warnings for them to come away.

Both jumped and attacked in a flurry of kicks and punches. A sidekick that sent him down into a spring surprised Genma. However, it was not enough to deter him and he sprung to attack.

Ranma was waiting on one of the poles as he watched the spring that Genma had fallen into. A moment, later, he was surprised to see a large, furry black and white animal jump out. While he was staring in surprise, the animal kicked him hard enough to send him flying across the valley and into one of the springs.

Right after Genma had taken advantage of Ranma's surprise, he realized that something was wrong. He was covered in fur and apparently had claws.

Ranma came bursting up out of the spring he had been thrown into. It didn't take him long to realize that something was off. Once he realized that he was now a she, fury nearly blinded her as she ran towards Genma for retribution. Unfortunately, Genma got a lucky strike in and Ranma was once more flying across the valley.

This time, when Ranma fell in, she could tell something was wrong right away. She looked down and found that there was a light covering of fur, all over. It was barely noticeable from very far away, but it was there. Her ears twitched, and she realized for the first time that both sight and sound seemed amplified. She reached up with one hand and found ears on top of her head. A faint motion from behind made her realize that she had a tail.

Not even thinking about it, Ranma climbed out and dropped to all fours before shaking herself. When she was done, her tail was slightly puffed and her fur was standing slightly on end, but she was mostly dry. She calmly made her way toward where the guide and her father were waiting for her.

Ranma and Genma were still somewhat shocked. The guide had explained the curse and poured water over Ranma as a demonstration. Ranma was relieved to be male again, but froze suddenly as he realized that something else was still there. He still had the cat-like physical features.

Genma, meanwhile, was human again and looking relieved until he saw the look in Ranma's eyes. The last time he had seen a look like that in his eyes, Ranma had just learned the Neko-ken. He had looked that way just before shredding Genma so badly that he had taken almost a month to heal completely.

Genma bolted instantly. Anything else would have been suicide with Ranma looking like that. Ranma was after him in seconds.

A long and hard chase later, Ranma had lost Genma, but he didn't mind too much. Jusenkyo had been the last straw. Ranma knew that Genma had been planning something. He also knew that it would not be good for him in the long run. Ranma had also had something planned for quite a while, just in case Genma pulled something like this.

> > > > > > >

AN: I know that something like this has been done before, but I'll try to be somewhat original. If I don't manage, you'll just have to tell me. I have the first few chapters already written, but I can change certain things. And if you try to tell me that my prologue isn't very original, I'll have to tell you I know. I did say its been done before, but hopefully I'll provide some kind of twist at some point.