Suikoden Sunset 1/2

by madhat886

Girl Trouble! Here We Go Again!

!

'This has to be the shopping area of the town,' Ranma thought to himself.

All around him shop owners are trying to get the people walking by to stop and have a look at their wares. He looked around at what they are selling and found that it is not that different from what was usually sold in stores in his old world. The food is definitely different though. Some are foods that he remembers comes from Europe and America while there are a few vendors selling foods usually found in Japan. His mouth watered as he stared at the ramen one of the vendors is selling. He hasn't eaten yet and his stomach is protesting his treatment of it.

He noticed that some of the people looked like the two kids he saw earlier. There are even some ducks that act like humans walking around. Giant lizard men are walking around the area too! He has seen some weird people like the Musk People with their half human, half animal traits. This is the first time he has seen real animals or whatever they are acting like humans, or something like that.

As he is walking by and thinking about what he should buy he heard a thud. Being an expert on impacts and how they sound through actual experience ('stupid tomboy') he recognized the thud of a foot (wearing footwear of course) kicking something wooden and hollow. He followed where it came from and between the Supply Shop and the Defensive Gear Store is a young brunette around fourteen or sixteen years old. Her hair is styled in pigtails like his is except she has two of them where he only has one. She's dressed in a weird assortment of clothes. She has on blue shorts that puffed outwards and long stripe colored socks. She also has a white collared red dress with yellow sleeves. The collar around her neck has two small blue bells on it. She looks kind of like a clown without any makeup on. On her back is a long handled red hammer. She has large brown eyes and a cute face. He only had one thought as he watched her.

'Why is she kicking a wooden barrel for? Is it for training?' Ranma thinks to himself. He decided to see if she needs any help as the barrel look a bit strange. From the frustration on her face it looks like it. He walked up to her side and tapped her on the shoulder. "Need any help?"

The girl's expression turned from frustrated to grateful as she turned to him. "Sure! Do you... know…?"

Belle stopped talking, something that she rarely does once she starts. Lust took over and she just could not stop staring at the hunk of man meat standing right in front of her. She always likes to take things apart. Now if she could she would take away the thin shell of clothing covering his body and see what she had to work with. Dirty thoughts ran through her mind at that. Her face turned scarlet and she turned away from him and put her hands on her cheeks.

'No! Stop that! I'm too young to think like that!' she thought to herself. Unfortunately she is a late bloomer and she does not have much experience with hormones yet. In fact, this is one of the few times this has happened to her and never this intense before. It took her a while to get herself under control.

Ranma stared at her, wondering what he did to make her react to him like that. He looked himself over to see if he has any stains on his shirt or something that would make her have that kind of reaction. He did not see any and put the experience away as something that girls do that he will never understand.

The girl got herself under control just when Ranma finished looking himself over. She then told him of her problem. "Thanks for asking. You see this is Gadget Z. He's missing a screw and without it I can't make him work."

Remembering the screw he found earlier Ranma reached into his pocket and took it out and presented it to her.

"Is this it?" Ranma ask.

The girl's eyes widened as she looked at what he had in his outstretched hand.

"That's it!" she cries out and grabbed the screw out of his hand and went to work on the barrel. After a few moments she finished. "There! That should do it!"

The barrel rumbled as three wheels, one big one in front and two small ones in the back, popped out. The sides opened up to reveal two arms and it held a large metal hammer in one hand that was inside of it. The top lid popped up showing a robot's head. The robot's face is made up of two large eyes and a tube that it speaks through.

“Gadget Z is up and running now!" the robot said.

Ranma's eyes widened as he saw what the 'barrel' really is.

“Wow! A robot! I didn't know they have robots around here!" He figured since this world is pretty primitive they wouldn't have anything as advanced as a robot.

The clown girl nodded with a proud smile on her face.

"Yup, pretty impressive isn't it. My mom built him to be a fighting machine. By the way, my name's Belle. What's yours?" she held out her hand to him.

"Mine's Ranma,” he said as he took her hand into his own and gave it a shake while directing a friendly smile at her.

Belle's temperature rose as soon as their skin made contact. 'Wow! Such a firm grip! Calloused, but it's so gentle at the same time. And that smile! From his build he's definitely a fighter. If only I'm just a few years older… Why is it so hot right now?'

Belle felt like she's in a furnace. Since she had started noticing boys two years ago she's always been attracted to cute men who knew how to fight. Now she's face to face with one of the cutest guys she's ever seen and she can barely look him in the eye without blushing.

Ranma wondered why she's not letting go of his hand. He started worrying that she could be sick when he feels her temperature rise. 'What's wrong with her?'

Gadget started beeping and making a racket, breaking her out of her trance and making her let go of his hand.

'Dang it Gadget!' Belle thought.

"High energy reading coming from the one named Ranma! Power level is over 1,000 danger level! Fighting level 97!"

Belle turned surprised eyes at her fellow pigtailed new friend. "Wow! That kind of power is huge! I've never seen or heard of someone with that kind of power before!"

He chuckled, feeling a little embarrassed at the praise.

"Well, I guess the people I fought must have raised my fighting level up a bit," he said, remembering his fight with a godling. That fight and the daily brawls with the NWC had made him pretty strong, even better than Ryoga's monster strength. Of course he never let the NWC know that. He always held back in his fights, only making an exception with opponents like Saffron and Herb.

Belle smiled at him. He looked so cute when flustered like that!

“So what can I do for you for fixing Gadget Z for me?" as she said this she looked down at the ground while pushing her index fingers together. She has seen other girls do that when faced with a cute boy. Now she knows why.

Gadget Z beeped to get the two teen's attention. "Belle, we can't just stand around here! We need to catch up with the others at Duck Village!"

Ranma looked questioningly at Belle. "Duck Village?"

She stopped pushing her index fingers together to answer his question.

“It's the home of the Duck Clan and where my friends are waiting for me. It's a little bit to the east of here. When Gadget broke down they went ahead of me to fix up lodgings,” Belle pouted when a though came to her. 'I meet a stud and I need to catch up with my friends before they go without me! Life stinks!'

He chuckled. "What a coincidence. I'm heading east to look around the Grasslands. I can come with you since all those monsters are running around out there. I could be your bodyguard for a while if you like."

Belle's eyes lit up at the thought of her very own knight in shining armor. The metal shoulder guards he has on even made him look like it too!

"Yeah! You can protect me and I'll show you around the Grasslands!" Belle beamed, clasping her hands together.

On the sidelines Gadget Z slapped a hand on its forehead. 'Just great! Belle is just like her mother!'

"Come on Ranma! I'll show you how to get to Duck Village!" Belle said, attaching herself to his right arm as they walked to the east gate. 'Oh wow! What hard rock muscles!'

She giggled and he arched an eyebrow at her antics.

'Girls in this world sure are weird.' Normally he would have panicked at a girl glomping onto his arm like that, but they are years apart and figured nothing's going to start between them. (1)

As Gadget Z followed the two to a store selling food he couldn't help but comment to himself, "This is a strangely like what happened with her mother after she joined Zero's Army." (2)

He accessed the files that contained the memories of when he was still Gadget traveling around wit Meg before being rebuilt into Gadget Z.

'If my memory banks are right this is very similar to when Meg met Belle's father. Only that time he gave her an ice cream. Oh, wait. Ranma just bought her strawberry pie,’ Gadget thinks to himself.

Ranma had seen Belle eyeing a piece of strawberry pie as they selected what food they would bring with them. He figured 'what the hell' and bought her the whole pie.

'Must make good impression or else she'll pound me with that mallet,’ Ranma thought to himself.

Belle eyed the delicious looking Strawberry Pie longingly as Ranma bought it from the vendor, but then became surprised when he handed it to her.

He smiled at her as she looked at him, shocked. "I noticed you eyeing it, so here you go."

Belle jumped up and down in glee and gave the pigtailed martial artist a kiss on the cheek in thanks, making both teens blush.

Gadget Z watched Belle as she took out a piece and devoured it. 'Maybe I'm going to be traveling around with Belle and Ranma's daughter in the future.'

He followed the two teens out of the castle. Belle molded herself to Ranma's side, making him feel a bit uncomfortable. However, he thinks she's just grateful for the pie and relaxes himself. Besides, what could go wrong?

!

Elsewhere -

In a room overlooking the east side of Brass Castle a young woman watched the two depart. Looking through binoculars Lady Chris fumed at the way the clown girl is attached to her Ranma.

"What does she think she's DOING? THAT HUSSY HAD BETTER LEAVE MY RANMA ALONE?" Chris growls. The binoculars in her hands started to groan at the pressure of her grip. She didn't even notice when she started to think about him as 'HER Ranma'. Actually, she is using her spare binoculars. She broke her first one when she saw the 'perverted girl' give her Ranma a kiss on a cheek.

"What are you looking at?"

Her tirade against the 'evil clown hussy' stopped when she turned to the door and saw Louis and Salome in the room with her.

Her cheeks went lava red and she turned away from the two before she spoke in a normal, albeit shaky, tone.

"W-w-well, I just saw Ranma leaving with a girl and a rolling barrel or something. There's nothing to be worried about! Hahahaha!" she laughed nervously while scratching the back of her head.

After getting over the shivers at her weird behavior Salome walked up to her and looked her in the eyes. "You like him, don't you."

Chris’s eyes widened and she stepped back in surprise and embarrassment. "W-W-WHAT? I-I just… just… think that Ranma is someone we should keep an eye on, that's all!"

The sun would've been jealous at the amount of heat her cheeks are producing.

Louis is hopping around her in circles. "You love Ranma! You love Ranma!" Chris blushed an even darker red if it's possible.

Chris looked flabbergasted as she glared at her squire. "Louis! I do NOT have feelings for him whatsoever!"

She stomped out of the room, leaving behind two people who had knowing smiles on their faces.

The young boy looked up at Salome who had a sly expression on his face. "So, should we set them up?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"We will see. Besides, Ranma does have some fighting moves that could come in handy. He also made her giggle and smile. I think she just found her Mr. Perfect." The expression on Salome's face would have made Xellos or Kitsune proud. 'I've never played matchmaker before. This could be fun!'

!

Outside -

Out in the hallway Chris supported herself against a wall while trying to regain control of her blush. Living as a soldier required you to suppress certain... urges and desires. She has done pretty well pushing back those feelings until now.

'How does he affect me so much?' She thinks to herself. Now that she thought about it she had never HAD the urges before now. Her cheeks finally regained their normal color and she started walking without really noticing where she is going. 'Why do I feel like this NOW? I have seen dozens of good-looking men before and they have never affected me so. Heck, I've had men who are better looking than him asking me out on dates. I've turned them all down of course. But… I have a feeling that if my Ranma were to ask me out I would say yes in a heartbeat.'

She walked right out into town, acting on autopilot as people greeted her on the street. Again she did not notice that she referred to the pigtailed warrior as 'my Ranma'.

'I have to admit he is a good warrior. That "Breaking Point" move he used is simply amazing! But, that can't be the reason I'm attracted to him, is it?' she thinks to herself.

Leo passed her by and greeted her, only to be given an absentminded wave and brushed off. He shrugged and moved on. 'She's probably thinking about new techniques or something.'

Chris continued her walk to an unknown destination.

'Could it be that I've finally succumbed to my urges? What about other good looking men?' she thinks about every good-looking man she has ever met and envisioning herself being together with them. She even thought of Borus, her blonde haired comrade who seems to have a crush on her. 'Ewww! Ugly! I feel sick! Ok, that means only Ranma affects me like that. That's good.'

By now she is walking on the bridge that leads out of the castle. Coincidently it is the very bridge that Ranma, Belle and Gadget crossed a few minutes ago on their way to Duck Village.

'What did my mother say to me once about finding the right man? In the diary she left me she put in a section meant just for me. Momma has never been wrong before. What did it say again?' she thought back to the words that are written in the diary that her mother left her. It is one of the few things that her mother, Anna Lightfellow, had told her that she actually remembers.

"...Chris..."

In the voice of her mother Chris heard in her head, "You will just 'know' that he is 'the one'. You'll 'feel' that he is the right one for you when you meet him. That is how I met your father, and I'm sure that is how you will meet your 'special one' as well."

'Maybe that's it. Maybe I've found the one I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with. Wow, just like mother did with father. It must run in the family,’ Chris thinks to herself.

"...Lady Chris..."

'What else did mother say about knowing that he is the right man for me?' she thinks to herself.

"You will know that he is the one you are meant to spend the rest of yourlife with when your mind, and your heart, yearns to be with him. Trust me. When you do find him make sure to never let him go. The women of our family can tell whom they are meant to be with in a heartbeat. That is how I met your father, and my mother met my father, and so on and so forth. When it affects you do not let him go, or else you will never find another man ever again,” she talks to herself. 'I don't know about yearning, but I did feel very jealous when that PERVERTED CLOWN GIRL latched on to my Ranma!'

!

Elsewhere -

In another world a certain Amazon sneezed.

!

Back in the other world -

"...Lady Chris..."

Chris clenched her fist as she made a decision. 'That's it! I have to find out whether he is the one for me! He and I are going out on a date no matter what!'

She feels her cheeks blush again as she begins to daydream about her date with Ranma. She giggled girlishly at the thought of them holding hands.

"LADY CHRIS!"

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She gave off an "EEEEEEEKKKKKK!" and grabbed the hand and threw her attacker over her shoulder. She took out her sword and pointed it right at the assailant's throat. When she could think clearly again she noticed that she has just thrown one of her own teammates.

Chris put away her sword and glared down at the blonde. "BORUS! What the HELL were you thinking sneaking up on me like that?"

Said knight looked up at her, dazed. "…you… walked… out… castle… called you... three times… didn't answer…"

Chris finally noticed that she had walked off pretty far from the castle. In fact, if she followed the trail she would eventually end up in Duck village. She gave a very weak "…oops…" and proceeded to give her subordinate a hand up while trying not to die from embarrassment.

!

Meanwhile -

Belle is talking about some of the adventures she had with Gadget when she felt Ranma suddenly tremble. She stopped their group as she watched him thinking about something with a shocked and slightly scared face.

"Ranma? Is something wrong?" Belle ask.

The pigtailed warrior felt a chill go up his spine. 'From that type of chill that means someone has just decided that they are going out on a date with me. NO WAY! Akane, Ukyo, Shampoo and even Kodachi aren't here! There's no WAY I can feel that across dimensions! Can I?'

Belle disengaged herself from his side and gave his arm a tug to get his attention. When he focused on her he gave her a sheepish smile and put a hand behind his neck.

"Sorry. Don't worry about it. Just got a shiver from the wind or something,” Ranma said.

She did not look very convinced but dropped the subject anyway and hugged his arm to herself as they continued on towards Duck Village. He pushed the weird situation to the back of his mind, thinking he's being paranoid again.

The Amur Plains is a stretch of hills and fields that bridged the gap between the lands claimed by Zexen and the rest of the Grasslands. Skirmish after skirmish had been fought upon these valleys for the right for either side to expand their territory. In recent years the Amur Plains had developed into a sort of neutral ground. It is now considered free lands belonging to neither the Council nor any of the Clans.

He looked down at the girl who is still glomped onto his arm. "So how far is it to Duck Village?"

He's getting a little uncomfortable with where his arm currently is. It is starting to fall asleep from the pressure she's hugging it with. Also he's starting to get REALLY uncomfortable with the way she's rubbing her cheek against his bicep. It was only a little pie. She did not have to act THIS grateful for him buying it for her. Then he remembered that he's in a new world and decided to try to relax. It's not a good idea to set off the girls in THIS world. For all he knows this is a custom in this world on how to thank a person.

"We should get there by nightfall if we don't run into anything,” Belle said.

"Emily and the others should still be there by the time we arrive," Gadget commented from behind them.

Ranma wondered what her friends are like. "So what kind of people are your friends? What are you guys doing in the Grasslands anyway?"

"Well, we all know each other through our parents who took part in either the Toran Liberation War, also known as the Gate Rune Wars, or the Zero Unification War that happened in lands to the east of here. Counting Gadget and me there are six of us traveling around and seeing the world."

He had never heard of any of the wars she's talking about. Of course since he's not from this world it made sense. Still, what would they be doing traveling around the world?

"Really? Why?" he ask.

Gadget spoke up. "Belle is looking for her mother Meg who ran off a couple of years ago, she’s still looking for her uncle Juppo who originally built me. Sharon wants to find a wild dragon egg to raise the pup by herself. Mamie is with us to find new kinds of foods to cook. Sanae Yamamoto, or Sanae Y, and Emily are trying to find people who are as stronger than them to train with."

"Wait. Your mother ran off!" Ranma ask.

Belle looked sad. "Yeah. Mom does that all the time, she’s a trickster like me. She runs off and finds new machines to build and stuff like that. She's been doing that since she was a kid. As soon as I was old enough to take care of myself she left Gadget Z to take care of me and left." (3)

"A mother should be there for her children," Ranma said quietly, thinking about his own childhood and how his mother was never there for him. As he spoke his voice got sadder and lower. "My mother was never there when I was growing up. When I finally met her she wanted me to do what SHE wanted me to do with MY life so that her family name would have great honor. It didn't matter that it robbed me of my life or how I felt about the things she ordered me to do as long as I did it. For ten years I didn't see her because of my pops. When I finally met her she started ordering me around, saying that I had to bring great honor to the family name, or else."

He subconsciously gripped his sword tightly and would have warped it if he hadn't noticed at the last second. Belle did not notice him almost warping his sword. She's too busy looking at his sad face.

"You mean that your own mother didn't care about what you wanted to do with your life?" Belle ask shocked. She couldn't believe that someone could be that cold to her own child. Her own mother is not exactly parent of the year, but at least when they meet up every now and then she greets her very warmly and gives her love without a price tag. For ten years his mother had not seen him and as soon as he comes home she starts dictating how her son is to live his life.

Ranma nodded sadly at her.

"Yeah. There was no bond between us. All I was to her is her son who must do this and do that without thought of what I wanted. For ten years I didn't even know that she's alive. When I did meet her I was a gi…" Ranma shook his head before he got himself depressed and changed the subject. "So how about yours?"

She took his changing subjects well.

“Mom raised me until I was old enough to take care of myself. We both have the same love for gadgets. But sometimes I wish she's with me more," she said with a sad tone in her voice.

Ranma winced at making her sad. He put his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "Well, at least she cared enough for you to raise you until you're old enough and left you with Gadget to look after you."

Gadget beeped from behind them. "That's correct. Ms. Meg left Belle in my care. She did not want Belle to be in any danger while she's away."

Ranma gave a little smile at the rolling barrel robot. He then turned back to the girl walking beside him.

"All I had was a fat man who cared only about himself and feeding that fat stomach of his while leaving me with nothing and living off of me. There's no situation he can't make worse. He would also leave ME to clean up whatever it is he got himself into. I was nothing but his little slave and meal ticket!" he snarled. If anyone had looked closely they would have seen him glowing faintly, though it went away when Belle spoke.

"Was he your real father?" Belle ask.

All she got was a nod.

‘He never had a childhood or any bond with any of his parents,' she thought to herself. 'Poor Ranma. If I get him as my husband I'll show him what a REAL family is all about!'

Images of her in a wedding dress and Ranma in a tuxedo went through her mind. Ranma and Gadget wondered why Belle's face suddenly started to imitate a tomato and giggled a lot. When she noticed that her two companions are looking at her funny she coughed and changed the subject. She asked him to tell her about a few of the things he did for training. He did.

She swore to kill his father after the fifth 'training method'. Being chased around by a wolf while carrying his father on a couch!

!

Later -

Duck Village is the ancestral home of the Duck Clan. Although similar to normal ducks, members of the sapient Duck race are much larger and much more intelligent. The village is built right on the waters of a lake. The buildings are built on wooden piers in a circle with one bridge leading out of the village to the lakeshore. Some of the ducks live on houseboats than on the pier. The pier is for travelers that are not good swimmers.

Because of the Ducks relations with their neighbours, Duck Village is a more permanent dwelling and thus reflects a more mercantile status amongst the other races. The Duck Clan is led by a mayor rather than a chief. Despite their more scholarly nature, Ducks are no strangers to combat and are skilled combatants and use halberds as their primary weapons (an interesting note is that all Duck Clan halberds' blades are in the shape of a fish, hence implying it may be their favorite food).

At the back of the inn, in one of the small houses where the inn's guests sleep, are four young women between ages sixteen to eighteen. They are currently waiting for their two straggler friends to show up.

"So when do you think Belle and Gadget will get here?" asked a young sandy eyed and dark brown haired girl wearing a chef's outfit with blue pants instead of white. Around her neck is a yellow scarf and she wore a spice belt with a small pan hanging on it. She is careless in her speech, but meticulous about cooking. She is looking out through the back window, watching the sunset.

"Whatcha askin' me for? I don't know, Mamie," a shorthaired blue-eyed redhead replied. She is wearing a long orange shirt with the back longer than the front, purple shorts, black arm and leg bands and a black headband. Her body is muscular but lean at the same time. Like her mother, she is a Herculean fighter with a great amount of energy. She likes to cook but with her strong hands, she ended up crushing the ingredients.

"You could have just carried Gadget on your back, Emily," said a dark haired girl. She is wearing a short white robe with green edges and red pants that are loose on her legs that ended right above her brown boots. Tied around her waist is an orange-red sash tied into a bow on the front. She has a pair of round glasses and her long hair is made into a long ponytail that reaches to the middle of her back with a red hair clip above her left ear. A naginata rested at her side.

The redhead, Emily, glared at Sanae Y.

"Well, I would have if someone didn't keep on piggy backing on me. Right, Sharon?" she said to the sleeping girl on one of the beds.

A short, blonde haired girl is talking in her sleep. She's wearing a short (so it shows her mid-drift) long-sleeved shirt with a short chain mail on top. She's wearing a short yellow loincloth and long black leggings. On her head is a red headgear that made it look like she has fins on the sides of her head. A thrusting spear and a small buckle lay next to her bed. Letting out a yawn, showing that she has fangs, she opened her eyelids to reveal red eyes.

"What? I like riding on you!" she exclaimed, looking at Emily with a confused look.

Once the innuendo sunk in Emily blushed redder than her hair. "Don't say it like that! It gives people ideas!"

Sharon tilted her head to the side. "What? How come you're blushing like that?"

Sanae Y blushed as well. "She's right Sharon. If people heard that they might get the idea that we're all lovers."

"Just because we're a party of girls people start thinking perverted stuff about us! Can't they think with the head on top of their shoulders and NOT the one in their pants?" huffed the expert chef Mamie.

A knock at their door broke their train of thought.

“Come in!" they all shouted.

The door opened and a familiar girl in a clown outfit walked inside.

“Hi girls! I finally got here!" Belle said.

Sanae Y looked behind Belle, expecting Gadget to be following her. "What took you so long? Where's Gadget?"

Belle shrugged and pointed her thumb towards the main office. "Gadget's with Ranma getting a room for themselves for tonight. I don't know why but Gadget's kind of following him around, for some reason you know."

"Ranma? Who's Ranma?" the four girls asked at the same time. Belle had never brought someone with her before. It's usually them trying to find boyfriends even while traveling around the world.

Ranma's newest admirer is about to tell the girls about her new pigtailed friend when a few facts entered her mind.

1. Ranma is a First-Class hunk.

2. Her friends are older and aren't as cute as her, but their bodies are better built.

3. They're a lot more boy hungry than she is, especially since they're not late bloomers like herself.

4. Ranma is a Stud with a capital S.

5. He's nice and has a kind heart. Plus he bought her that cake.

6. If they see Ranma they'll definitely be boy-hungry.

7. He's single.

8. I SAW HIM FIRST!

9. HE'S MINE!

10. For all other issues please refer to thoughts 8 and 9.

With the last thought she made up her mind. "Just a guy who walked with me and Gadget here! Nobody special! Hehehe!"

She laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head as she tried to back out of the room.

"A guy?" Mamie ask

"Is he cute?" Sharon ask.

"Is he single?" Emily ask.

"Now girls, I don't think we should do this," Sanae Y said in a patient manner. "Let's just wait and see for ourselves when he gets here. I'm sure he's a nice young man."

"I..." Belle began, but stopped when a certain red-shirted guy walked in behind her.

Ranma put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a grin. "Hi Belle."

He spotted the other girls, ignoring their gawking state.

"So these are the friends you were talking about. Hi! I'm Ranma nice to meet you!" he greeted them with a wave and a smile. "I'm staying at the next house. Just come by if you need anything. See you tomorrow!"

With that he along with Gadget walked to the next house. For some reason Gadget liked to hang around with the broken katana wielder, gathering information on him.

Of course he didn't know that the rolling computer is gathering data and seeing how good a match he is for Belle. So far he's calculated that they will have healthy, intelligent and strong children. The more he calculates the more prominent that shiver up Ranma's spine became.

Silence reigned as the girls processed the hunk that was at the door just a few moments ago.

"He's the one that walked you here?" Mamie asked, blushing at the most handsome guy she's ever seen. Uncontrollable teenage hormones surged through her.

"Is he a fighter?" Emily and Sanae Y both asked at the same time.

"How old is he?" Sharon also asked.

Before the barrage of questions could get any further Belle interrupted them. “Yes, he did walk me here, he's a VERY strong fighter, and he told me he's almost 19."

"How strong is he?" Again the question is asked in stereo.

At this Belle looked a little hesitant. "Well... his power level is... umm… err… that is…"

Emily and Sanae Y got impatient and walked up to her. "Come on! What is it?"

Belle tilted her head down. Even after knowing it for a while she can't believe what Gadget Z had told her. "...one thousand..."

Stunned silence met her answer until a loud "WHAT?" sounded in the room.

Mamie's next statement came out as a whisper at first until she is shouting her words out at the end. "But... how... when Gadget made a read out of our power levels you're at 67, Sanae Y is 91, Sharon is 102 and Emily is 137? How can his be THAT high!" (4)

Belle shrugged. She's given up figuring it out herself. "I have no idea how. He just told be that he's trained to be a fighter since he was a child."

Emily stomped her foot. She's proud of herself that she has the highest fighting level out of the four of them, and here's a guy who just walks in and totally beats her score!

"But still! He's only eighteen! What kind of training did he did do to reach THAT kind of power level?" Emily said as she herself was trained by her mother to be the strongest fighter of her generation. Nobody but her mother can beat her, and her mother is a giant of a woman. And that her mom level is very high thanks to being apart of the war and kept it up by handling any monsters that wander around where they live.

By now her friends have surrounded and effectively pinned her to a corner of the room, demanding answers. Seeing no way to escape Belle replied hesitantly, "H-he did say that he was put in a LOT of life and death situations by his trainers. That's why he's so good right now."

Again silence reigned. Not even Emily's mother put her in anything that could possibly kill her. She was always nearby to help Emily when they’re out hunting monsters.

"What do you mean he..." Sanae Y began, but couldn't think of anything to say. Even when her parents were training her they made sure that the chances of her being killed or severely hurt were very slim.

Sharon looked a little green. "Who...who did that to him?"

Belle sighed as she walked pass them and sat down heavily on a bed.

"His parents wanted their family name to have great honor, no matter what the cost," she said, looking at her friends as their eyes widened with each word. "His mother wanted him to bring honor to their family name and his father wanted to live off of his son after he married a girl from the other school of the same fighting art he uses. It didn't matter if he's killed or how he felt about it as long as he brought great honor to the family name and kept the father fed while they themselves did nothing."

She then told them a few of the stories he had told her on the way here. Everyone felt ready to throw up by the end.

"Y-you mean his parents just saw him as a tool?" Disbelief and a little anger are in Sharon's voice.

Belle nodded. "Yeah, but that's all I got out of him on the way here. All I know about his old life is that he left it all behind him, only taking things that were given to him by people who cared for him and that broken sword of his. I think it's called a katana."

Mamie looked a little confused at the mention of the sword. "A katana? I don't think there are any sword users around here that uses one. In fact, katanas aren't even found in this country."

Emily nodded. "Yeah. They're usually where we come from."

Sanae Y remembered that she has seen that type of sword before. "The last time I saw one was the one that my dad used. He said he used it during the Zero War and that it came from a far off place. But he's not real sure where they're made from since he got it from a trader. Well there was that sword fighter Genshu who join the Zero Army. He would know where the katanas come from since he always had two of them at his side."

Silence met this statement until the chef asked a question.

"So he's all alone right now, right?" she asked with a certain glint in her eyes.

Belle eyed her friend curiously. Something about her tone set her off.

"Yeah. Why?" she replied cautiously.

Not looking at Belle or any other of her friends she started to walk to the door. "Well, since he's all alone and has no one to care for him maybe I should walk over there and give that poor boy someone to take comfort with."

Each of her friends gave her a look that said "No way in HELL!"

That started one hell of a shouting fight that lasted for hours as each of the young girls fought for the right to give comfort to Ranma. The boy in question slept like a rock through the whole thing while Gadget listened to the fight that went through most of the night. If it could it would have sweat dropped.

!

The Next Morning -

"So, um, why are you girls coming with me to Lake Castle again?" Ranma's feeling a bit nervous as the girls followed him back to Thomas' castle.

The all-female group and the animated barrel had wanted to go with him after he had explored Duck Village. And also found out what kind of jar he got from the monsters he killed earlier. He tried to refuse saying that it's not his decision to make, but one 'puppy dog eyes attack' and the girls plus Gadget are following him back to Budehuc Castle.

Belle spoke up from behind him as she walked with the rest of the girls. "You said that there's only eight other people at that old castle that you're staying at. We all thought that we could come with you and help out there. We don't have a place to stay in and we were thrown out of the inn."

"That's because you girls woke everyone up with all that shouting last night," Gadget beeped from next to her.

Without looking back at them Ranma asked, "What were you shouting about anyway?"

Since he's at the lead he didn't see the girl's faces turn crimson.

"Nothing important! You really don't need to hear about it! Hehehe," Mamie replied, red faced.

Sanae Y changed the subject, hoping to turn what they were talking about around.

"Anyway, Emily and I are here to find strong fighters like us to train with us," she said and started to drool at another thought in her head. 'Maybe do some endurance training with too.'

Emily continued from where Sanae Y left off, getting what she's trying to build up to. "Yeah, and Belle said that Gadget said that your power level is over 1,000. You must be a hell of a fighter to have that much power."

Gadget accessed his records and said, "The last high power reading was Luca Blight with the power level of over 1400."

"Wow! No wonder our parents had such a hard time fighting him!" Belle said while Sanae Y nodded.

“It took 4 groups of 6 of the best fighters all attacking him one after another to wear him down enough just to be able to take him down,” Sanae Y said.

Ranma agreed. Normally he would get a really big ego boost at that, but suppressed it with a lot of effort. He doesn't feel like being beaten by these girls for sounding like a pompous jackass. Got enough of that from a certain uncute tomboy. Then he got an idea. "I know! I can train you all in my fighting style! I'm sure it'll bring up your skills in no time!"

The girl's faces lit up. "Really?"

"Sure! I never really trained anyone in my style before, but I can see that you girls can be good fighters,” Ranma said.

"So what's the name of your fighting school?" Emily ask.

"Most of it is from my family's fighting school. But I added a lot of new moves and modified everything else so it's more efficient and I can call them my own. My former father's style was good, but what he taught me tended to be flashy so I changed it so it's not as obvious what I would do next. I also took out any deficiencies that I saw. I never realized how bad it was until I figured out that doing a jump attack on a stationary opponent is a really dumb thing to do. Anyway, I kept what I was doing to myself since my former pops would have had a fit if he knew. Since the moves are different I can claim the new school as my own. I renamed it the Wild Horse Style of Fighting. What do you think?" Ranma ask the girls.

"Wild Horse?" they all said. They all thought it's a stupid name for a martial arts school.

He turned around and faced the girls and the rolling barrel.

“Well, in my homeland the name Ranma means 'Wild Horse' so I figured it's a good name,” he explains. He wondered why all the girl's faces turned red. 'The name isn't THAT bad, is it?'

The girls for their part wondered just how much of a "wild horse" Ranma is. (5)

He shrugged, thinking that he'll never understand girls, and kept walking. The others quickly caught up to him.

Up ahead in a lightly wooded part of the plains are a herd of horses standing around. In the center of the herd is a blue-eyed blonde wearing a western cowgirl outfit. She's wearing blue pants with leather stirrups, a tucked in white shirt, and a pink vest with matching cowboy hat. Ranma noticed that she's tomboyish, but she's beautiful and her short haircut suited her. She looks to be around his age and has an ample chest that he had to break his gaze away from.

‘Whoa! She could give Shampoo a run for her money! Though my girl form is much better!' Ranma thought to himself.

The girls saw him staring at the older girl and growled. He walked up to the girl, oblivious to the increasing tempers of the girls behind him.

"Hi. Need any help?" he ask.

Kathy turned towards the voice with a smile on her face.

“Sure! I could... use..." She stopped smiling, however, and just stared owlishly at the most handsome man she has ever seen. He's good looking and muscular, but without looking bulky. That pigtail is so cute on him too! 'He looks just... no, BETTER than my old boyfriend!'

In yet another dimension a sailor suited defender of love and justice sneezed.

She then noticed that he's not alone. Five girls that are younger than her and a… barrel… stood behind him. All of them, except for the animated barrel, are trying to burn through her with their glares. She ignored them for now and faced the only male with them.

“The name's Kathy. My horses got caught up with a wild herd and now they won't stop moving so I can count them to see if any ran off with the wild ones,” she introduced herself.

"I can do it. How many you originally had?" Ranma ask.

"I had 16 horses, stranger,” Kathy said.

He laughed sheepishly at having forgotten to introduce himself and the girls. "Oh. Sorry about that. My name's Ranma, and my friends are Belle, Sharon, Sanae Y, Mamie, Emily and the rolling barrel is Gadget."

As he introduced them the girls gave Ranma and the blonde cute smiles and waved at the cowgirl. But as soon as the pigtailed warrior's gaze left them they returned to the murderous glares.

Kathy would've become very nervous at this, but she's too busy looking at the man that made her old boyfriend look like a troll.

"Thanks for the..." she began, but stopped when he seemed to disappear, then reappeared a few seconds later right in front of her.

"There're 21 horses now. Seems that some of the wild ones joined your herd." Ranma said. He wondered why they're gapping at him. Did he count them wrong?

Even the girls and Gadget behind him are dumbstruck at what happened.

"How did you... when did you count... huh!" ask Emily, being the best fighter out of the girls, only sa an afterimage of Ranma running away, and then reappearing right where he started a few seconds later.

Ranma shrugged. "Oh, that. Since I got this Gale Rune my speed has become faster than ever. I just ran around until I counted all of the horses, that's all." (6)

"But, but, that was really FAST!" Belle pointed out. Ranma sweat dropped.

"Ehh? I wasn't that fast was I?" Ranma ask as he scratched the end of his pigtail, looking unbearably cute.

Everyone shrugged, forgetting about that bit of weirdness. It's easier to ignore it than thinking about it.

“So you're a fighter huh," Kathy stated, sizing up how he moved. 'He's just like water, so smooth and graceful. YUMMY!'

Ranma's ego went up as he nodded with pride. "Yup! I'm the best of my generation!"

Seeing at how she and the other girls are getting miffed at his attitude he gave them a sheepish look. He nervously tugged at his pigtail, without knowing that it made him look adorable, and gave a mumbled "Sorry".

Trying to change the subject he eyed the horses and came up with an idea. "Hey, if you had a stable you would have an easier time looking after your horses you know."

Now it's Kathy's turn to look sheepish. "I tried to find one around here, but most of the farms have their own herds or don't use horses. And the Zexens farms charge too much for using their stables so, I'm kind of stuck."

“Well, at Lake Castle there's an old stable and field that hasn't been used for years. If you come with us I can probably talk Thomas into letting you use it if you like,” Ranma said.

When Kathy's face lit up he couldn't help but think that her smile is really cute.

'Kawaii. Akane used to…' Ranma shook his head, not wanting to remember that. He would've gotten depressed if the cowgirl hadn't grabbed him in a hug, bordering on a glomp. The other girls just growled louder.

"Really! Thank you! You're the best!" Ranma blushed as he felt her large breasts through her shirt and his. Even if it's happened to him hundreds of times with Shampoo that didn't mean he's used to it. The feeling of her soft, fully developed breasts made him a little nervous since it'susually followed by a mallet to his head.

The other girls, who have been silent up till now, couldn't take it any more and added in their piece. "Hey you! Get off of him!"

The shout made Kathy let go of Ranma. She scratched the back of her head in embarrassment and let out a small, nervous laugh. "Hehe. Sorry. Anyways, we can go a lot faster if we ride on some of my horses."

Ranma agreed as he got control of his blush. "Yeah. I think if we keep it at a good speed we can reach the castle by dusk."

The girls looked like they wanted to beat the little man-stealing cowgirl senseless, but that would make Ranma think they're violent girls. Reluctantly they agreed to her plan.

'But don't think you can steal him so easily! He's mine!' they all thought.

!

Back at Lake Castle -

"So when you do you think Ranma will get back?" Cecile asked Thomas. Everyone's at the bar eating a late snack. Sunset is coming soon and Ranma still hasn't returned.

Thomas thought about it for a second before replying. "I don't really know. He did say that he's going to look around the Grasslands so that could take a while. You also told him that he should visit Karaya Village so he might be over there now. It does take some days to travel by foot."

Martha looked up at them from the sink. "I haven't been to the village in years. I'm sure he's having lots of fun there. There're lots of singlegirls there I believe."

She chuckled to herself. She's cutting up some boar meat that Ranma killed a day ago and adding lots of salt so that it would last longer in the food storage room.

"This is great!" Juan laughed. He and Muto found Ranma's manga collection in his room. He never said if they could or couldn't go through his stuff. They're very curious about him so they went through some of his things, to check in case he's a bad person. They're reading 'The Slayers' and 'Gold Digger' and laughing up a storm.

"I don't see why you two are reading that. It's not right to look through his things without his permission!" Sebastian scolded. He tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen.

"Oh come on! It's funny," Muto replied, looking up from the Gold Digger manga he's reading.

"Yeah! I wonder if you could really do magic like the ones in these book," Juan asked himself while he held an issue of Slayers.

Piccolo's attention perked up hearing that. He’s been teaching Sunset magic of this world and she’s been teaching him her world’s magic. He felt the old drive he had in learning magic when he was younger.

“Really? Let me have a look at that,” he said as he took the manga from his hands, ignoring the protest that came from the usually bored looking man. He looked at the pictures with great interest at the magic that Lina Inverse is doing. "I have to look into this."

Piccolo's mentor, Master Crowley, had told him to always be on the lookout for new ideas for magic.

"The land where Ranma comes from must have a lot of technology," Ernie said as she read one of the textbooks Ranma brought with him. Unlike Juan and Muto she actually had his permission to look through his books. "They must not use much magic to have this level of technology."

Thomas looked up curiously at her. "Really?"

Ernie nodded. "According to this book tall buildings are connected by something called an elevator. It's a small room that can somehow move up and down. It can take people or things from the bottom level all the way to the top and back. You can stop at any level of course. Considering that the buildings in Ranma's homeland can be up be up to thirty stories tall that's very impressive."

She held up the book that read 'Lifts and Pulleys for Dummies' and showed it to the others.

Everyone looked a little bug-eyed at being informed that there are building thirty stories high. After a moment Cecile remembered something. "We got one of those elevators in this house!"

“I remember but it stop working,” Martha said.

Ernie looked thoughtful after being told of its location.

“Maybe if I read up some more I could repair it." Her eyes gained a faraway look and she started mumbling to herself.

"That would be nice. In my age getting around is hard to do," Piccolo said as he went back to reading a spell called the Dragon Slave.

"But it would help if someone knew about machines to help me out," Ernie stated without really focusing on anybody.

“Have you ask Sunset?” Cecile ask.

“I haven’t really talk to her,” Ernie said remembering her meeting with the tall buxom redhead. “She’s rather intimidating.”

“She did grew up surrounded by nobles all of her life and was the personal student of her ruler,” Piccolo said.

Sunset had told everyone about her origins as coming from a different world and being like Muto but a unicorn. But once she went through the mirror it made her human. She lost her horn but she could still use her magic and she also showed off her bags of holding showing them what she’s says is true.

“I read of how summons from the Pale Gate Runes can summon things from other worlds and some monsters are also from other worlds. But I never heard of a sapient being before, only in stories,” Ernie said.

“My old teacher told me of some beings he had met but he really doesn’t like talking about that kind of stuff,” Piccolo said.

“Where is she anyways?” Thomas ask.

“She didn’t want any of the meat I made and just took some bread, cheese and wine back to the tower,” Martha said. She had made some ham and pork chops for dinner but Sunset didn’t want any.

“She is a unicorn she must not eat meat,” Sebastian said.

Suddenly, Muto's ears perked up. "Hey, any of you hear that?"

After a few seconds everyone heard a repeating and rapidly getting louder pounding sound.

"Sounds like horses,” Martha said.

Sebastian and the others ran to the front of the castle to see what's going on.

Outside the castle Ranma and the girls rode up to the market center of the castle with Gadget racing next to them. Thomas and the others came out to greet them as Ranma and Kathy got the rider-less horses to wait at the front of the castle.

"Welcome back!" Thomas greeted to his friend, and then noticed the girls on horseback. "Who are they, Ranma?"

"Hey, Thomas! I met them while I was in Duck Village and they said they wanted to come with me here,” Ranma said as he and the girls got off their horses. He then introduced the two groups to each other.

Looking at the girls and the way they're looking at the pigtailed man Martha had an idea on why they wanted to come here. She has three full grown daughters of her own and they all had that same look when they met her current son-in-laws.

“So you went out to go exploring and came back with these young girls following you home," Martha said, giving the girls a knowing smile. While they blushed Ranma gave a confused look to the three-time mother.

After getting her blush under control the cowgirl of the group stepped up. "Yeah, name's Kathy and Ranma said that there's an old stable and field that I could use. In return I could help around this place."

She hoped they would take her offer. She doesn't have a lot of money and the place is a real fixer-upper.

"The same with us," Sanae Y said for her group. "Me and my friends need a place to stay and would gladly help around here in return."

Ernie stepped forward. "Do any of you know about fixing machines?"

"I do!" Belle almost yelled. "I fix Gadget all the time!"

Ernie studied Belle's partner. "An animated barrel?"

"Yes," the barrel replied, shocking Lake Castle's inhabitants. "She knows a lot about machines. However, she needs to be watched while doing it or else she'll mess up."

For that Belle hit him at the back of the head.

"I can cook," Mamie volunteered. It doesn't look like they have a chef so maybe she can get a job here.

"We do need some help, but still...," Sebastian wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Juan turned to him with his usual lazy look. "We do need help around here. Sebastian. Besides, it's not like they're asking for much. They just want room and board and three meals a day. With Ranma doing the hunting it won't be too bad."

Ranma mouthed thanks to him.

"It'd be nice to have some more girls around my age to talk to," Cecile added. She gave him the dreaded puppy dog eyes attack.

Before Thomas could answer Ranma dragged him over to the side.

“Look, just consider it a favor to me, will you. I don't know why, but I got a feeling something good will happen if they stay. Besides..." He dropped his voice to what he hoped only Thomas would hear. "...I want to taste some of Mamie's cooking! I hear it tastes great!"

Unfortunately he didn't count on him and Thomas being upwind. The wind carried their conversation to the group of girls and they heard him complimenting the chef. Mamie beamed while the others vowed to learn how to cook. They were thinking of how they would go about this when Thomas and Ranma returned.

Thomas nodded to them.

"Then it's settled. Welcome to Budehuc Castle!" Loud cheers met his proclamation. Thomas grinned as well. 'Wow, I CAN do something right once in a while!'

“Alright what’s with all the noise?” Sunset ask having heard the noise coming from the market square came to see what’s happening.

The new girls could only stare at the tall buxom redhead that appeared on the top of the stairs leading to the castle. They all thought that Kathy was buxom but the new woman is even taller and more buxom than her. As for Kathy who is proud of her figure could only gasp at the sight of the redhead who is bigger than her. She has huge breasts, thin waist and wide hips, giving her a hourglass figure, which her clothes showed off.

“Hi Sunset these are some girls, I met while traveling and they be staying here for while,” Ranma said.

“We’ll keep it down,” Sunset said as she walks back to the tower.

“Who’s that Ranma?” Belle ask her eye twitching seeing the buxom redhead who knows Ranma.

“She’s a traveling wizard I met and travel with,” Ranma explains causing the girls to moan seeing how out class they are compared to her.

“Who is also a traveling unicorn from another world,” Martha said seeing how the girls are intimidated by Sunset’s looks.

“What?” Ranma ask.

“You didn’t know?” Martha ask.

“She only wanted to travel with me for safety in numbers and hardly paid attention to me till we met up with Thomas,” Ranma said. Causing the other girls moods to light up hearing that Sunset isn’t interest in him but still wondered about the unicorn part.

“Tell you all about over dinner,” Martha said.

!

Author's Note:

1 - Alright how many times have you have heard that line before?

2 - That's the name I used for the hero in my Suikoden 2 unit name.

3 - Tricksters are people who enjoy gadgetry; they're very creative and like all things mechanical. They are always up for the next thing to build, such as robots and weapons. It goes without saying that some also like playing tricks and are notable for being mischievous and playful, even creating their own games. Most Tricksters can be recognized by having some form of an orb, bell or button on their clothing.

4 - The power levels are more like the levels of game characters who after enough experience points gain a level of power.

5 - If you don't get this then you're too young to understand it now. You'll get it when you're older.

6 - Unlike in the game the people with runes can use them outside of battle and the combat only runes can have other effects outside of battle.