Early Warning by Gregg Sharp ===== char & situations tm their respective owners. ------------------------------------------ "So, Ranma Saotome dies in this timeline, because his neck was just slightly more bent when Akane Tendo hit him with a table just after the engagement had been announced?" "Yes," the cat agreed. "You can introduce a change here without much concern. Ranma dies. Shampoo tracks down Genma, who shows her the grave, Shampoo goes back satisfied, and so on. Then Shampoo and her village die when Phoenix Mountain and the Musk Dynasty join forces and eliminate the amazons as a concern. Of course, it isn't long before the Musk try to betray Phoenix Mountain as Saffron had planned, and the Musk are also eliminated. Meanwhile, Akane has to come to terms with the fact that her temper just snapped a boy's neck." "So, nobody will miss this timeline. Good." "You're gonna owe me for this," replied the cat with heavy-lidded gaze. "I'm still wondering exactly how you found about all this." "I'd always wondered why so many of the amazon's special techniques and manuevers had 'cat' references. When I checked into it, I found Cologne knew of a way to contact you, though she never would except as a last resort to some fate a lot worse than Shampoo going home in disgrace. She wasn't about to mess with this sort of thing, but I couldn't resist the chance to play with some REAL power." "Nice, that information will pay for the trip. We'll see about the remainder of the debt, and it is low interest..." Nabiki shuddered and pointed to a spot in Ranma's journal where she wanted the change to occur. What's a gamble without high stakes and some risk? Unlike the other beings involved, she couldn't pay with one day's worth of power, and so...other...arrangements would have to be made.(1) "Here, this is the day after...after my mother died. The change I want to plant is that one of the doctors sees how my father is handling this."(2) --------------------------------------------------------- "Any friends or relatives?" Doctor Takahashi said, wiping the lenses of her glasses. She could give him any number of drugs that could help Soun cope for awhile, but she was considerably worried about the daughters. The youngest was looking angry, not really understanding her mother was dead. The six year old had not cried at all, and that was even more scary. The eldest was only eight and she had gotten over her crying to find that she was going to have to be the mommy now. "Think, Mister Tendo." As she watched, the sedative she'd given him earlier took hold and some ghost of rationality began to manifest. Dr. Takahashi smiled at the girls sitting with their father. "I...know how to cook, I suppose I can take over..." Kasumi began to sniffle again. "Yes..." Soun looked up at the doctor. "There's an old friend of mine. In fact, one of my daughters here is to be married to his son. An arranged marriage, a matter of honor, you see." Kasumi stared at her father. Nabiki blinked but her expression didn't change. Akane asked what an arranged marriage was and was promptly hushed by both of her sisters. The doctor got the name, called information, and reached a Nodoka Saotome in short order. Genma wasn't available, but upon finding out that some children were going to have to fend without a mother... --------------------------------------------------- "Auntie Saotome!" Nodoka was watching Kasumi making a simple vegetable stir-fry. Kasumi had apparently already learned something from her mother of cooking, but she lacked polish. Nodoka was there mainly to answer questions and keep any little disasters from occurring. "What is it, dear," Nodoka answered, thinking that the question would be about what she could safely add to the stir-fry. "What's your son like? How old is he?" "Ah," Nodoka blinked. Where had THIS come from? "He's just a little younger than yourself, and I haven't seen him for almost five years now. I have heard he's doing well, though. Dearest manages to call or send a postcard from time to time. Why do you ask?" "Daddy said that he'd arranged a marriage between me and your son," said Kasumi with a pout. She didn't notice as a few of Nodoka's hairs "toinged" out of her normal hairstyle as the older woman was behind her. "I don't think I like younger boys."(3) "Arranged? Marriage? My son? Genma!" Nodoka's pleasant calm evaporated for just a single heartbeat. "Oh my. Kasumi, turn the stove off. I think I need to speak with your father." ---------------------------------------- "Yeah," said Akane as she looked over at the doctor. "That's my big sister, Kasumi. She'll be going to Junior High School soon." "I see," the young doctor replied. "Do you get in fights like that fairly often?" "Yeah," said Akane with a grin. "Don't tell Auntie Saotome! She doesn't like it." "Well, if your aunt doesn't like it, why did you get into a fight?" The doctor was a little impressed that the girl didn't flinch when he put the disinfectant over a particularly large scrape. "They was saying bad things about big sister," Akane lost her grin. Then leaned over to whisper as if imparting a big secret. "It's cause Kasumi's got a boyfriend she ain't never met." "Never met?" Doctor Tofu was puzzled but the little girl seemed completely serious, not mock-serious as if this were some joke. "My daddy arranged marriage. She gonna marry some guy name Ramen." Akane nodded. "We have big family meeting. Daddy had to take his pills but we remembered him talking about it. Ramen is Auntie Saotome's son, she taking care of us since Mommy died." "Ah," Tofu shrugged. An arranged marriage was a little unusual, but a lot of that still took place. It sounded like two families that were close making permanent ties. "So Ramen come and sweep Kasumi away on his white horse!" Akane's eyes glittered. "Just like in story books." "You're all done," Doctor Tofu informed his patient. "Try to take it a little easier in those fights now." "Okay, doctor!" ------------------------------------- "Yes, we need to talk." Nodoka paused. "I am well aware of the agreement. I am about to tear that contract up, because after the past eight years of raising these girls and seeing Kasumi get thoroughly wrapped up in this arranged marriage... "Yes, Genma. I know about your arrangement with Soun to marry Ranma off." Silently Nodoka added she still hadn't gotten much of a response from Soun. Either he was an emotional wreck, sleeping, or zoning on the newest prescription change. "I have heard quite enough about the contract, Genma! This is not about calling off your training journey. This is about preparing for what comes after." Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane, listening to Auntie Saotome from their position in the closet under the stairs, all squirmed a little. For Auntie Saotome to raise her voice was unheard of. Next thing you know, Kasumi would botch a meal or Nabiki would be giving refunds. "Who's Kasumi? Soun's eldest daughter. That's one of the few good things to come out of this. Why? Because all three of the the Tendo daughters are quite nice. Kasumi's an excellent cook, and a nice traditional girl, and I will be proud to call her daughter." Kasumi's smile lit up the closet. The sixteen year old also blushed prettily. "What do you mean it was any of his daughters? Before you make that trip to China, I want you to come by here. Yes, you can continue the training afterwards. Because I want Ranma and his wife-to-be, whichever one it is, to get to know each other. He doesn't know? You think it'll have an adverse effect on his training as his concentration won't be entirely focussed. Well, then, I won't tell him, and I'll get the girls to promise as well. Not until you've brought him back from China, or when he's reached his sixteenth birthday. How's that? Fine. Goodbye,dear." Nodoka paused briefly as she went back to the kitchen, the excited whispering of three girls coming from a closet. She shrugged inwardly. Let them know about it, it was their lives anyway. And any one of them would make an excellent daughter. ----------------------------------------- "We'll be leaving for the final leg of the training soon," Genma nodded towards his wife. "We're just stopping by to say hello like you said. C'mon, Ranma." "OOoooohhh!" Three girls shot from the open door to get a look at the boy one of them had been promised to. There was some disappointment, though Auntie Saotome HAD assured them there was no white horse and that her son was many things but a handsome prince was not on the list. "Actually, dearest," Nodoka held the wrapped bundle out where Genma could clearly see it. "I have another idea..." --------------------------------------- Genma grumbled. Ranma tried to figure out why these girls were being so nice to him. Nodoka looked proudly at her son, being the object of three girls' attentions. A sign of a man among men. "So when do we get to this training site?" Akane asked excitedly. A break from the fights at school, and this Ranma guy was kinda cute. Maybe Kasumi wouldn't want him! Nabiki held her camera ready. Exotic sights and a trip into a rarely seen part of China, just the thing to regale her associates with when she got back. And if she got the guy, instead of Kasumi (who was Auntie Saotome's favorite), or Akane (who already had guys fighting over her), then so much the better. She was tired of being ignored by the guys, and if she just couldn't get the hang of the traditional skills, she had other strengths! Kasumi smiled at Ranma, mindful of her promise not to let him know about the arranged marriage, but she'd been waiting to meet him since she was eight years old! How could she not take the time to get to know him? To flirt with him and see if he'd respond? To try to uncover the real Ranma behind what Auntie Saotome had warned her about "rough edges needing to be smoothed out." Ranma smiled back at Kasumi, wondering again what the heck was going on. -------------------------------------------- "Here, sirs, we come to training ground of Cursed Springs- Jusenkyo!" "Did he say 'Cursed'? Dearest, are you sure about this?" "It's a legendary training ground. Of course, it's safe. All the really top notch martial artists train here." "Aw pop, this place don't look so tough." Nodoka looked over the map and tried to figure out what they were talking about. "So." Ranma looked at the three girls who were tightening belts. Akane was wearing a traditional gi, Nabiki a black jumpsuit sort of outfit, while Kasumi had opted for a more Chinese style. "You said that you'd studied some of the Anything Goes style, but that your father couldn't help you that much. What other styles have you learned?" "Traditional ninjitsu," said Nabiki as she leapt to the top of one of the poles. "Though mainly my focuses are not in the martial arts."(4) Akane required a little more effort to reach the top of the top of a pole. She wasn't quite as limber as Nabiki. "Kempo mainly. A little Muay Thai." Kasumi wanted to make an impression. She gracefully landed upon her pole as if weighing no more than a feather. "Masaki style Kendo, a little Aikido, and Hwarang Do." Nodoka listened to the Guide going into hysterics, but the man's accent was getting stronger from the amount of stress. She understood from an earlier conversation that all three were interested in her son, and each wanted to both show off and find out how good he actually was. "Oh no!" Nodoka's attention was jerked back to where the girls had just demonstrated that they were NOT used to moving as a team. Tournaments and one-on-one matches, yes, and Akane was used to plowing her way through school melees, but coordinating attacks was completely different. "Those ones fall in..." the Guide was interrupted as Genma was knocked into a pool by Ranma. "That one fall in..." Nodoka's eyes widened as a large falcon pulled itself out of one of the springs and started making an odd noise. A Kasumi that she hadn't seen for at least nine years was trying to get untangled from the much too large clothing. A dark brown wolf snorted water out of her nose and looked sadly at everyone around her. One of the pools exploded, and a panda came up to attack Ranma, who was gawking at the sight of all the animals. He fell, screaming, towards one of the pools. "Okay," the Guide took a deep breath. "That one fall in spring of drowned girl. Now whoever fall in spring take body of young girl." Ranma surfaced, looked at what was hanging out of his gi, and screamed. The Guide backed away from the pools and pointed them out to explain this all to the uncursed customer. "That one fall in spring of drowned falcon, that one fall in spring of drowned child, that one fall in spring of drowned wolf. That one fall in spring of drowned panda. Each spring have terrible tragic story. Now whoever fall in spring take body of what last drown in spring." "Dearest," Nodoka called out. "Do you want to define 'safe'? I think we may have differing definitions." Everyone's eyes snapped to the panda. The panda fled. He was pursued by a young woman in a gi, a falcon, and a fairly large wolf. Little Kasumi came up to her Auntie Saotome and asked very politely if she could go home now. ---------------------------------------------------------- okay, where does THIS go. //scene of Ryouga getting knocked off a cliff, this time by a rather large wolf?// Oh terrible tragic story sirs, about wolf who drown in spring 14,500 year ago. What kind of wolf was around 14,500 years ago. Big ones. Really big ones. Hey, I coulda used spring of drowned shih tsu... //scene: amazon village. this procession is enough to cause the various people to call a halt to the current match. Nodoka gets hot water. Everyone goes "Ah, Jusenkyo!" and the match goes on. Now, however, Akane is still wanting to take her anger out on someone, and says the wrong thing. She gets challenged. Well, it's just a little match, isn't it? Does NOT turn out the way it did in Neutral Ground.// //scene: Kasumi tries to get a romantic moment watching the stars with Ranma, she sighs and wiggles a little closer as if cold, a splash from the pond (Ryouga) turns the pair into a young girl and a child. Kasumi sniffles as her mindset also changes.// //scene: Shampoo appears during the fight between the Golden Pair and the team of Kasumi/Ranma. Kasumi gets splashed by Kodachi and must withdraw. Nabiki takes her place. Ranma gets splashed by Ryouga. Ryouga teams up with Akane. Akane wants to fight with Ranma. Shampoo enters the contest, challenging the Golden Pair that if she wins, then Ranma will be hers and Mikado can have Akane. Everyone but Mikado and Shampoo dislikes this idea.// //scene: Kasumi begins leaning forward, ready to awaken him with a kiss after he's gotten knocked out in a battle with Happosai.// mind you, i'm still tempted to have Kasumi fall in Spring Of Drowned Saiyajin or Drowned Sailor Senshi. (That funny, Spring dry up immediately. Ah, is one use spring!) oh well, ja ne. ======================================== (1)- yes, i know, no affecting a timeline you're personally involved in. Since she's not a goddess, she's being cut a little more slack. Besides, the assembled beings want to watch her reaction when things start going wrong. Most gods of the myths & legends really enjoy putting down uppity mortals. (2)- her third mistake, as she could have altered it so that her mother never died. Of course, as you read this, you can just imagine Nabiki flinching as she sees what she has wrought, can't you? (3)- i know she's got it wrong, you know she's got it wrong, neither Kasumi nor Nodoka realize she's got it wrong until later. (4)- Tiger Claw kung fu is a real style, ninjitsu you already know about. Freestyle Kempo is pretty much an Anything Goes martial art in Real Life. I'm not sure about the spelling of Muay Thai, but this also is a RL martial art that's good for brawling. Aikido seems to fit Kasumi's personality of gentle deflection as much as any martial arts does. Hwarang Do is a style that combines shiatsu techniques and some wu shu/kung fu manuevers from other schools. I was gonna make Akane good at Commando Training style, but figured there would be complaints. Mind you, the style's perfect for her. As for Masaki style kendo, sure i could use "Falling Sparrow" or "Gentle Rain" instead, but Nodoka strikes me as being "into" family so a family school works.