Disclaimer: I still don't own Ranma 1/2.

Summery: AU. Things took a strange turn at Jusenkyo. Ryouga falls from the cliffs and knocks his head on an outcropping. Not only that but he fell into the spring of drowned Musk girl. Now undergone total story change.

[Sign]

(Thoughts)

*SOUNDS*

++++++++++Flashback++++++++++
Chinese

Thanks goes out to K.M. for helping  me with the rewrite.

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An Unexpected Turn

Part I

Who am I?

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Ryouga Hibiki sighed and looked out over the valley. From up here it seemed to stretch on and on. Several small springs could be seen from where he stood. Each one of them tainted with red from the setting sun. It had taken months but he had finally done it. The last word on the Saotomes said they were here in Jusenkyo.

Slowly he turned his head and spotted an old trail leading down into the valley. Shifting his backpack, he turned to take the first step down the trail when the sound of heavy footsteps broke through the natural sounds. Spinning around Ryouga was presented with the sight of a giant panda storming at him. Ryouga stood completely still and processed the information before instinct took over and he jumped to avoid being trampled. Looking down in midair Ryouga followed the back of the panda as it passed under him.

"Get back here pops!!"

Ryouga's head snapped up and was presented with something red, then a foot slammed into his face and he had the feeling of flying backwards. His path altered by the foot, Ryouga missed the outcropping and fell out over the side of the cliff and down towards a wet landing. Well he would have had his head not made a perfect hit on a cliff sticking out. Still dropping down, his path had been altered so that instead of landing in the spring below he made a splashdown in the spring next to it.

As Ryouga sank down, the heavy backpack pulling him down, a red mist formed in the water from the back of his head, the mouth opened to draw in air and got nothing but water, the green eyes snapped open and the hands clawed franticly to pull out of the water. For a moment, Ryouga blacked out.

The person awoke under the water feeling the burning sensation from lungs screaming out for air. Struggling against the pull of the backpack, the person's hands trashed around in the spring trying to find just enough strength to pull up into the air above. Finally the backpack slid off, and the person became light enough to reach the surface.

A girl broke the surface coughing wildly as she struggled to stay afloat in the water. She could feel several gulps of water entering her mouth as she trashed around in the spring. Her arms and legs cramping up from the wild movements, she sank back down under the water, her mouth opened in one last scream and just as the thought of death began, something grabbed her right arm and pulled it and her out of the water.

***************

Genma-panda smirked as best as he could, given the fact that he was panda. Those secret techniques of his had come in handy yet again. Even if they were dangerous and better off sealed up. They sure came in handy when he needed to make an unseen getaway. Anyway, he had gotten away from his son, and now it was time to find the guide so this whole mess could be sorted out. After all he had no intention of staying a panda forever.

Genma-panda thought about this as he calmly walked back towards the guides hut. A feeling of regret flowed through him as he felt the wind ruffle his fur, why didn't they mention stuff like that in the brochure. The least they could have done was put up a sign to warn you. Genma shook his furry head and wondered what the world had come to when you couldn't even train in remote places without running into stuff like this.

The sound of splashing and faint cries alerted Genma, and he spun around in a circle to see if his son, or was that daughter now, had found him so soon. With no sign of the boy, or the sound of death cries in the air, Genma relaxed and turned and continued walking when he saw that someone was trashing wildly around in one the many springs close to the base of a cliff. A closer look showed a purple-pink haired girl trashing around in the spring wildly.

Genma gasped and crossed over to the spring as fast as he could and grabbed the girl's arm as her head vanished below the water. Using all the strength his panda form gave him, Genma pulled out the girl and ducked the spray of water that followed. Being a panda was one thing but he wouldn't chance it to see what happened when hit by water from that spring.

Genma slowly put the body on the ground. He had avoided the water so far but he still needed to carry her without getting any water on him, finally he settled for simply holding the girl by her oversized shirt with one paw as he made his way back to the guide's hut. 

***************

The sun had already set by the time she woke up. From the sounds she could hear someone arguing loudly nearby. Sniffing she pulled the blanket in closer and sat up. She was in some kind of a small hut. Several dirty plates and bowls littered the single table in the corner. There was a window showing the mountains bathed in moonlight outside.

Shifting, she swung her legs out over the edge of the bed and slowly stood up, holding the blanket to her body she stumbled across the floor and stopped at the mirror hanging on the wall. Avoiding the smudged spot on it, she looked at herself. Long purple hair with pink highlights spilled down her shoulders and back. Light green eyes with slit pupils, and a small mouth with fangs looked back at her from beneath the long purple bangs. Her hands were thin and frail looking, but her nails looked more like claws and she could tell she could easily break the table in half if she wanted to.

Turning from the mirror she took a deep breath and blinked at the multitude of smells that hit her. The smell off of the dirty plates that had been used to eat some kind of meat and rice was clearest, then came the stench of wet panda fur and dirty clothes. From the window and door came the faint whispers of water and trees.

Still wrapped in the blanket she stepped closer to the door when the sound of voices reached her. Slowly she backed up and stared as 3 persons entered the hut. The first one was a rather large man in a Chinese military uniform followed by a fat man sporting a rather nasty black eye and swollen lip and behind them came a boy surround by a blue light. All of them stopped and stared at her before the guide yelped and turned around. The boy gulped before turning around. He stood like that for second before he grabbed Genma's ear and turned him around as well.

"Young Miss. Your clothes outside drying" The guide mumbled as he pulled out several Chinese clothes from a closet "Plum have spare set you borrow" The girl blinked, then she looked down and shrieked since the only clothes she was wearing was a pair of boxer shorts.

Pouting she tried to adjust the damn shirt for 100th time and failed. No matter what she did it was a few number sizes too small and her chest too big. And the pants were too tight as well "Ah, I can't breathe in this thing" Opening her eyes she spotted the fat man staring at her chest and drooling "You pervert!!" The guide and the boy clapped as she kicked the fat man through the roof and far into the night.

"Here" Turning around she found a pair of black kung fu pants and red shirt stuffed into her hands the boy mumbled as he looked everywhere but at her "Maybe they'll fit you better" Bowing slightly and blushing she rushed out of the room to change.

Stepping back into the light of the hut she dropped the clothes she had gotten from Plum, the guide's daughter, on a chair and settle down at the table with her head lowered "Thanks" The boy looked startled at the word before nodding.

"I'm Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes martial arts school," Ranma said as he gave a bow before looking at her "So who are you?"

The girl opened her mouth to answer and blinked "I… I'm…" Her eyes widening as she tried to remember something, anything told the others that something was wrong "I'm…"

Ranma frowned at the girl "You must have a name or something"

Nodding she opened her mouth say that she did and closed it again when she couldn't remember it "I don't know"

The guide looked up from his tea "When Mr. Costumer bring you in, you have bad head wound. Maybe you hit head and forget?"

Ranma nodded "Yea something like amnesia or something"

Lowering her head she closed her eyes "Who am I?"

Ranma shrugged and downed the last of his tea "Don't know, but you can always just pick a name. Think I'll crash now" Standing up Ranma pulled out his sleeping bag and promptly fell asleep.

The guide looked at her before he stood "I don't know who you are, but from looks you come from Musk. The animal tribe who live in the mountains"

The girl blinked and looked at the guide "Musk, who are they?"

The guide pulled out his pipe and lighted it "my ancestors' ancestor say that long ago, tribe of martial artist want to be one with animal who style the use to fight with. Using Nyanniichuan they turn animal to woman and have children. Sometime descendants come down into valley to hunt, all have pointy ear, strange eye and claws" 

The girl felt her ear and hand "I'm a Musk? I don't remember"

The guide looked at her and shook his head before he pulled out a wallet "Find this on you"

Looking down the girl picked it up "This is mine?"

"Yes" The guide stood up "I go prepare bed for you"

Nodding as he wandered off the girl opened the wallet "No pictures" Turning it over and opening it, a few crumbled bills and coins landed on the table. Lifting the coin she sniffed it and stuck out her tongue at the sour metallic stench. Among the bills she found a neatly folded piece of paper. Unfolding it she tried to read the words "Hi mom almost given up… try one more week… how dad…" She groaned in frustration as the water had erased most of the ink from the paper. Nearly crumbling it up she stopped and looked at the bottom line "Be back soon Ryo…na" She grumbled as only half the name and another sentence could be read "This doesn't help me, all it says is that half my name is Ryo" Lowering her eyes to the last readable letters she smirked "Ryo-na, Ryona. I like it, my name's Ryona, well at least until I know my real name"  

Standing up she yawned and walked towards what she though was her bed "Where you go?" Ryona, as she called herself now, stopped at the guides question, and blinked as she had opened the door to the closet

Tbc in: Trouble in Jusenkyo.

AN: This is the last time I rewrite this thing. Maybe now I can concentrate on chapter two.