A Long Journey

Ranma was, as usual, several miles ahead of the caravan. It was several days since they had resolved the warlock issue. The warlock in question was under guard with the caravan's main body. Apparently there was some kind of guild for warlocks where his crimes would be reviewed. Grayson seemed unconcerned with his banditry, however he found his abuse of Elementals intolerable. Ranma could relate to that, sorta, but it was hard to get emotional over a pile of rocks that had been well on its way to flattening him. As far as he could learn from Grayson the only regrets the Elemental had in regards to its past actions was that it had failed to finish off 'that pest'. Ranma wasn't positive but it just might have been referring to him.

He had almost trained himself to ignore the interference caused by the cloak. He wasn't sure he trusted his newly focused concentration in combat, but thought he would soon. The reason he was out a little further than normal was he had found his patience failing with rock creatures lately. There were far too many in this world for his comfort. It may have been ideal for Ryouga, him be'in rock headed an all, but Ranma found it disconcerting being so woefully unprepared.

He also was frustrated at the lack of perceptible progress in his personal training. Without other skilled opponents to test out the effectiveness of the techniques he had invented he had no idea how effective they were. Sure they weren't the incredible destructive maneuvers he had learned from Cologne, but he was fairly proud of the throws, attacks, and defensive moves he had come up with on his own. It looked like he might never find out if they were as good as he thought they were. He really wished Ryouga were here to spar with. Sure he always beat the Lost Boy but it was always a good workout. What was the point in being the best martial artist in the world if he was also the only one. He also missed the okinomiyaki Uchan always made, and the friendly conversation, Akane and her hammer, the verbal sparring, heck he even missed Nabiki…well not much, just a little.

He shook himself, if he kept obsessing about home he would get as depressed as Ryouga, it was time to concentrate on the training he could do. To aid his initial concentration with the perception he was attempting to achieve he had banished all distractions, even his bracers had been placed in subspace. The only distraction left was the odd faint fluttering sensation he had come to associate with having animated cleaning utensils using his subspace storage. It had been very disconcerting at first but he had to put the damn things somewhere. The warlock hadn't been able to call them off, apparently after freeing his 'brothers' he couldn't change the last command he'd issued. So every once in a while a new brush or something would attack him. He got no sympathy from Grayson or the other's, all they did was laugh as he was chased around the camp, until he managed to force the tool away.

He was standing next to a large boulder meditating, and trying to feel how it was connected to him, when he heard footsteps behind him. Knowing who it was before he turned around, he desperately rooted around in subspace for his cloak. Spinning around, he mentally commanded his cloak to form his normal clothing. He was taken by surprise when the thing in his hand started to whip around and repeatedly smack him about the head and shoulders.

A giggling sound confirmed his fears. "Sensei, is this another of your new training methods?" Sighing at yet another humiliation Ranma calmed his mind and put the brush he'd grabbed for back into subspace.

"No. I was just brushing some of the dust off. What do you want?" Ever since the battle the girl he'd met before had been following him around like a lost puppy. He was sort of flattered but it did lead to awkward situations. She didn't seem to mind but it usually embarrassed the heck out of him. She was apparently a member of some kind of Warrior Monk order. Her martial arts weren't anywhere near up to his standards but they were the best he'd seen so far.

"I've been practicing those forms you showed me, and I think I'm ready for something new."

"Hmm...show me. And remember I want to see some real Battle Aura control this time," he grunted.

He nodded in appreciation as he watched her gently glowing form. She was the first person with any chi control he had seen since he gotten to...wherever he was. It was crude and relatively weak but it was there. She said she was one of the best in her order but it was obvious she'd been overwhelmed when she'd seen him in combat. That was to be expected. He was Ranma Saotome after all. When she had recovered she had begged him to teach her. Usually he hated fighting, or even teaching girls but she was so far behind in the martial arts that it would be some time before they would be up to sparring. For now it was chi control, physical exercise, and katas. Eventually she would be able to be able to channel chi while doing exercises and katas, she would find her speed and strength increasing rapidly thereafter as the chi flows optimized the body's development. He was actually rather proud of her progress so far. Not that he expected anything else. With him teaching there really was no chance of anything but success.

After she finished her form he nodded in approval and demonstrated her next exercise. He ignored the fact he was in his boxers. He hoped she thought it was some weird teacher thing. When he was done they chatted for a while and she asked what he had been doing. Giving up the inscrutable teacher act he excitedly began explaining about the Breaking Point and his plans to master it. He admitted that he didn't have the traditional setup, but if he could learn the C.h.e.s.tnut Fist using water and fish he figured he could learn the Breaking Point without a large boulder repeatedly smashing into him.

"Are you sure sensei?" she asked in a doubt filled voice.

"Of course I am. No problem, I think I'm close too. I almost could see something the last time I tried. Er...before you came by."

"Could I stay and watch?'

"I suppose so, just stand back. When the technique works the rocks should explode."

"That sounds very dangerous. Are you sure about this?"

"Sure I'm sure, what could go wrong. I mean the whole technique's point is to toughen the body. Sortta like a stone skin technique. I mean really how often do you get attacked by stone monsters..." Ranma trailed off as he mentally tallied the numerous rock creatures he'd met so far. "Anyway the technique only works on rock, metals, and other really solid stuff."

"If you say so."

After making sure Jess had moved to a safe distance, Ranma began his concentration again. Reaching out he was able to sense his surrounding much clearer than previously, but nothing that looked like a Breaking Point. Still after some time had passed he noticed on the peripheral of his senses a faint network of lines. As he focused on this new phenomenon he saw with sudden clarity how there was a lattice of something, maybe energy, maybe chi connecting everything he sensed. It was pretty but he wasn't sure what good it did. In a sudden moment of inspiration he noted that there were nodes where lines connected. Maybe that's it, no one ever said what the points look like, maybe that's it.

With this thought he brought his finger forward towards the rock to touch one of the radiating areas. Nothing. Hmm, probably needs to focus chi into the point as well. Ryouga sure made it look easy. Reaching out again he focused his energy through his finger into the nexus. He sensed the start of some sort of reaction and inwardly began to cheer. Yes! I did...

For Jess it had the feelings some car wreck victims have experienced. A huge disaster you could see clearly as it unfolded before you, but were helpless to alter. Ranma began to glow as he reached towards the boulder and then he was engulfed in a huge explosion. Even from fifty feet away she was pelted with stinging shards. Ignoring this she ran toward the epicenter, where the dust was rapidly dissipating, crying out Ranma's name.

She found him laying unconscious in the bloody, tattered remains of his clothes. Small shards and slivers of stone were imbedded in his skin. She frantically checked his vital signs, and breathed a small sigh when she saw he was breathing and no body parts were missing. Not being a stranger to wounds and healing she began to pluck the shards from her teachers skin. Knowing this would cause additional bleeding she planned to remove the projectiles from a small area at a time, clean it, then stop the bleeding and bind the wounds. She had clothe in her pouch and the caravan would come by within the hour.

Her heart almost stopped when Ranma's body shrunk and grew b.r.e.a.s.ts when she poured water on the first patch of wounds. Stifling a yelp of surprise she continued to clean and bind the wounds. Ranma would explain later, if she had to drag it out of him/her kicking and screaming. By the time she had finished Ranma was just regaining consciousness.

"Agh...what happened. I feel like I was blown up by the old pervert," Ranma-chan muttered groggily.

"Shh. Lay still. Your technique was just a little too effective," she softly said, trying to keep Ranma-chan still.

Looking down at herself, she m.o.a.n.e.d. "Damn it's going to take days to heal this."

"You're not upset?" asked a very surprised Jess.

"Nah, just a training accident. I guess that's why you're supposed to get pummeled by boulders for a while before you actually use the technique. Shit."

"Doesn't this hurt though?" Jess asked. She was skeptical, those wounds had looked fairly serious.

"Oh you bet it does. But 'the path of a true martial artist is difficult. Only real men can succeed against such trials'," he said quoting his father's favorite phrase. "Besides I know some chi healing techniques," Ranma-chan stated, quoting her father.

"About that 'real man' thing..." she stated pointing at Ranma-chan's b.r.e.a.s.ts.

"Shit. How'd that happen? Ah, never mind, can you get be some hot water before the caravan gets here?"

"Hot water?"

"Yeah, I want to change back before anyone else finds out. I don't like to advertise about the curse. I'll explain while you heat the water."

Groaning in pain she sat up, ignoring Jess's protests, and started poking herself at pressure points meant to ease the pain.

"There's actually not much to it. There's a valley where there are over a hundred springs...or there was at least. Each spring had an animal or person drown in it. Any time after that, if someone falls into the spring they take the shape of what drowned in it before. I fall into spring of drowned young girl. Very tragic story," Ranma-chan spat. "Now when splashed with cold water I change into a girl. Hot water reverses the curse until next time."

"But you get splashed all the time. The others in the caravan joke about it all the time. Why haven't we noticed this before?"

"Well, before we set out I bought these." Ranma-chan pulled out the bracers from subspace. She also made sure to grab her cloak. "They lock my form in whatever I happen to be in. They're really cool. Is that water hot ready yet?"

"Sure. Here." She watched in fascination as Ranma-chan poured the hot water from the small pot and transformed into a man again. Looking nervously around, he quickly put the bracers on again. It was fortunate he did so for at that moment a light rain began.

"I'm not sure, but I think the curse also includes me being a cold water magnet," Ranma stated grumpily.

Several hours later he still looked pretty awful, but no longer in danger of falling over and dying. Ranma lay back down. It looked like he would have to put off completing the Breaking Point Training until he found a nice quiet spot to pummel himself with rocks. He doubted he would have survived at all if he hadn't been toughening himself all along by letting Akane hit him. Of course if he could survive her cooking he doubted anything less than divine intervention could kill him.

There had been a priest among the passengers who had been pleased to offer his healing ability for a fine guardsman unfortunate enough to get caught in a rockslide. He had a lousy bedside manner though.

"It's a good thing you didn't die, isn't it?" the priest chatted merrily.

Ranma gave him a disgusted look. "Yeah, it sure is. Would have ruined my whole day," he said sarcastically.

"Well I could always have asked my patron for HIS Intervention. Or if that had failed I'm sure Master Grayson would have been happy to hire a priest or mage to raise you," he stated nonchalantly.

Ranma sent the tea he'd been drinking spewing across the tent staring incredulously at the mad man in front of him. The priest misinterpreting his look continued, "Of course he would have. It's frightfully expensive of course but this has been the most uneventful caravan trip I've ever been on. Don't think we haven't noticed the unconscious Ogres and Orcs we've seen by the trailside. I doubt they just decided to take a nap on their own. Now I don't know why such a nice powerful mage like you decided he wanted to protect a caravan, but we all appreciate the thought. In fact if you tell me what mage guild you belong to I'll be happy to write a letter of recommendation to them. I'm sure Grayson would do the same," the priest added helpfully.

The last the priest heard from Ranma as he left his freshly healed patient was some muttering, "Great now I DO have to worry about divine intervention."

"Ranma, what are your plans when we get back to civilization? Do you have a place to stay?" Grayson asked one evening after dinner. Ranma was off to the side of the camp with Jess. She was doing katas, while he watched and corrected her occasionally. It was several weeks into the journey and they had already passed a few of the smaller towns near the border of Timiro.

"Well, I talked to Jess and she says the Monastery in the area would be happy to put me up. She's going to vouch for me. I ain't gonna be dead weight either. I can teach some of the more advanced maneuvers and katas to them. Maybe the basics of chi manipulation. I mean they got they one trick with focusing their aura through their spear but if they can do that I don't see any reason they can't learn…"

"Ahem! That's very nice Ranma. I had a little more in mind. Like long term goals."

"Well...I guess I can tell you. I've known you for a while and you seem to be an okay kinda guy an' all." Ranma paused to gather his thoughts.

"I think I'm from another world or something. I was sparin' with a friend of mine when I suddenly appeared inside this circle. The guy went on about if I was the 'Lost One'. He's the guy I was I was sparin' with...I think."

"You think you were sparing with the 'Lost One'?"

"Yeah, he must have been talking about Ryouga, he has a really bad sense of direction. Anyway I says I'm not but if he'll send me back I'll tell Ryouga that he want to talk with him. He says he can't let me warn him and tells everybody to attack me."

"Everybody?"

"Yeah there were some guards. Anyway I take care of everyone of course but I accidentally toast the old guy who summoned me so I leave."

"How many were there?"

"Um...twenty one plus the archers."

"Mercenaries?"

"I don't think so, they were wearin' red uniforms with lizards on them. I figured they might be town guards but the guys patrolling the streets wore different uniforms. The guys on the street were still lookin' for me so I decided to go someplace that had a good reputation for magic know-how but not hunting me."

"Hmm...sounds like a wise decision. Those uniforms sound like those worn by the emperor's elite guard."

"Ha, no wonder!"

"What?"

"One of my teacher's was always saying how some Chinese Emperor was always in terror of her martial arts techniques. I figure if that Emperor had guards that pathetic it would explain why he was always cowering in terror."

"Um, makes sense, I suppose," Grayson looked as if wasn't following the logic.

"Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is I was wondering where I can find someone who could get me back home."

"Well it sounds like you were grabbed by a Summoner, so finding a Summoner would make sense if you wanted to get back."

"What's a Summoner?"

"A mage that specializes in ritual magic like circles and to a lesser degree wards. They are best known for summoning and controlling Demons through certain circles. Thus their name."

"Hey! I'm not sure I want to talk to some guys that summons demons for a living!"

"Oh, don't worry they are perfectly sane...well most of them. You can also contact the mage guild. They're always happy to learn about new dimensions. The Mind Mage Guild...well I don't see how they could help you...unless you live on the Astral Plane. Ha, Ha," Ranma was not enamored by Grayson's sense of humor and was rapidly losing patience.

"Alright already! Which one has the best chance?" Ranma asked in an exasperated voice.

"Why, I told you, the Summoner's."

"But I don't wanna go to Hell!"

"But they specialize crossing to other planes. I'm sure they know how to go to other places besides Hell. I'll tell you what, I have some connections with the palace Alchemist. I'll ask him about it. Even if he doesn't know he'll probably know who does. Okay?"

"Uh, thanks. What's an alchemist?"

Grayson sighed, "Didn't they have any magic where you came from?"

"Of course we did," Ranma answered indignantly. "It was just mostly curse magic, a few magic swords, mirrors, but mostly potions. Lots of potions," Ranma theorized he'd had a good portion of these tried on him.

"Alchemists are very adept magic users, usually masters of at least three different schools of magic. They also specialize in creating magic items and constructs. Like the ones you wear."

"Hey! How'd you know what I'm wearing?"

"To anyone who can sense magic you radiate like a bonfire on a cold winter's night. You had significant amounts the first time I met you. Since then it just became more noticeable with the things you wear. Maybe it that chi aura you keep mentioning."

Hmm, I could try masking my aura, Ranma thought. But if I do that I'm almost blind to danger. Well at least I know there's a problem now. "What about warlocks?"

"Not very useful unless you wish to visit the Elemental plane of Fire, Earth, Air, or Water. Sorry."

"Hey, the priest said he can raise the dead. Does he know any other useful magic?"

"He can channel many magics from his patron God, or Pantheon. Unfortunately you need the location of your home plane. For that knowledge you would need to communicate with the God directly."

"You can do that?"

"No. If a God wants to talk with you he will appear before you or summon you. It's very uncommon. Usually very unpleasant too."

"Not nice guys, eh?"

"Gods deal with very large issues. If they want to talk to you you've either done something very bad, or they want you to do something of planetary or Cosmic importance. Being a Cosmic errand boy usually pays poorly and has a lousy benefits package. Everything I've heard says that if you think you've come out ahead, you didn't read the fine print."

Wow, Nabiki would make a really good deity, Ranma thought with a shiver.

"Of course the Gods of Darkness are worse, but even Gods of Light can be pretty callous."

"I guess I'll leave the priests to themselves if I can help it." Or maybe it would be like dealing with Happossai. Nah I can't imagine anything that bad, unless there's a pervert God. Ugh. "Anyway, the Monastery is close to the city so after I'm done teaching I'll pop over there and look around. It might even be fun without the guards after me."

"Well thanks for the advice. I gotta go show Jess some more katas. She needs to know more if she's going to help teach."