The six year old Ranma slowly stirred awake, he glanced round the small cabin, he saw that he was alone, he slid off the wooden table, the last thing he remembered was been tossed into a pit of starving cats and now he was in a small cabin, he looked round and saw no sign of his father, he let out a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Alice had left Ranma alone so his body could heal and recover from the transformation, she headed off in the direction of a mountain, carrying her son's body and began to make her way to the foot of a mountain where her son spent most of his time hanging out and that was where she planned to bury him and make a small tombstone for him in the mountain side and pay her respects.
A Couple Hours Later…
It had been a difficult task burying her son, but she had no choice, she missed her son more than anything and anyone else, she was glad though, glad she had managed to save the remains of his soul by merging them with the boy she saved at her cabin.
The Cabin…
Ranma was exploring the cabin, trying to find evidence as to why he was here and what the hell had happened to his body, he froze when he heard the door open, he found himself leaping from the ground and latching onto the roof, he just looked at the floor, the door in his line of sight, the door slowly opened and a tall woman entered the cabin, she looked round the cabin before inhaling deeply through the nose.
A small smile graced her lips as she looked upwards at the small boy clung to the ceiling of her cabin, he had changed over the last couple hours he had cat like ears atop of his head, their fur the same shade as his hair, a long tail rising out from his pants, clumps of fur on his hands and other areas, retracted claws instead of finger nails.
"Hello, it's nice to see you up and about" Alice greeted speaking Japanese doubting that the young boy spoke mandarin.
"Where am I, who are you?" Ranma asked as he fell from the roof, landing softly on his feet in a crouched like position.
"My name is Alice as for where you are, this is my home, a cabin deep in the jungles of China, too deep in the jungle terrain for anyone to find, now could you tell me your name?" Alice asked as she dropped in a crouch like position, making eye contact with Ranma.
"I'm Ranma Saotome" Ranma answered "Now what happened to me?" Ranma asked as he gestured to his ears and tail, Alice let out a small sigh.
"I'm sorry Ranma, but the only way for me to save you from your wounds and protect you from the psychological damage it induced, you will no longer fear cats but if you're around them for too long your cat like features will be revealed" Alice explained.
"You know about the Neko-Ken…how'd this happen to me?" Ranma asked.
"I blooded you, I mixed our blood to make you like me, part feline you are no longer completely human but are like me" Alice replied before adding "As for the Neko-Ken, my clan is the only one to succeed in mastering the Neko-Ken due to our species, if you want I can train you to master the true Neko-Ken and not the one the humans created" Alice offered, Ranma dropped his gaze.
"No, I'm not going in that pit ever again" Ranma replied, quickly, his tone hard and forceful.
"No you won't, that was the teaching technique forged by an insane human, with us it's almost a birth right, all you need to do is train, integrate with the feral nature of your being" Alice replied.
Over the next decade Alice raised Ranma like her own son/daughter it had been a bit of a surprise when he turned into a girl but she adjusted to it and proceeded to teach him that a body is only the shell, it didn't matter which form he was in he was still Ranma and besides no one cared what form he was in, he was never judged which made things much easier, though they did have a nasty run in with some amazons. She taught him the Neko-Ken and how to use his new abilities, how to survive in the wilderness, that his father was wrong among other things.
Ranma went from dreading every day of his life to enjoying his life, enjoying his freedom every day, until one day when he was hunting, he was closing in on a deer when he was struck on the back of the head, he fell from the top of a branch and hit the ground hard, a large panda then leapt down to the ground and picked up his son before heading to the closest river where he stowed away on a boat which was transporting cargo to Japan, he hid in the cargo, enjoying the food within it while using medical supplies to keep his on unconscious, doubting he'd be very happy about getting married, even though he had 'rescued' him from that woman, he used sedatives and chloroform from other cargo crates to keep him asleep whenever he began to wake up.
By the end of that day Alice had tracked Ranma's scent to where Genma had kidnapped him and was now running full speed following his scent, stopping at the ocean where she boarded a boat, using intimidation tactics to those who on the boat who objected to her boarding.
Japan…
Tendo Residence…
He approached the door and lightly knocked and held up a sign ready for when the door opened, a young woman with a sundress opened the door, a man with long hair and a brown GI stood behind her, their eyes widened when they saw a panda at the door wearing a stretched white GI, glasses with a young adolescent over its shoulder, even more surprised when it held up a sign that read,
[Hello, can I have some hot water]
"Oh my" Kasumi gasped.
"Err…K…K…Kasumi…could you…err…get the panda some…hot water?" Soun stuttered.
"Of course father" Kasumi replied before heading off to the kitchen to grab the kettle she had boiled for some tea before returning to the door and handing it to the large panda, the panda took it and poured the contents of the kettle over its head, the minute the near scolding water touched his head he turned into an overweight man wearing a white GI and glasses.
"Man that was hot" Genma stated through gritted teeth.
"Saotome is that you?" Soun asked, his voice filled with hope.
"Yes it's me Tendo" Genma greeted as he was pulled into a strong hug by his old friend.
Genma, once he was released lifted his son from the ground and carried into the dining room with Soun and his eldest daughter leading the way, the other two occupants were sat at the table, one had an indifferent and slightly intrigued expression and the other had an expression of compressed rage and fumed as she glared at Genma and the 'boy' in his grip.
Genma took a seat at the table, Soun took his seat at the head of the table and Kasumi went and sat beside her sisters, her sweet and innocent expression hiding her true emotions like it had for years.
"Girls this is my old friend Genma Saotome and this is his son…" Soun introduced, pausing when he glanced at Ranma who had yet to awaken, Genma followed Soun's glance and struck Ranma's head, hard, Ranma shot up rubbing his head, eyes squeezed shut.
"Show some respected boy" Genma demanded in a disapproving tone, Ranma froze, pausing his rubbing, his eyes slowly opened and took in the sight of anything and everyone around him, he leapt back, landing in a corner of the room in a crouched stance, his eyes darting round frantically, everyone just stared at him with a confused expression.
"Where am I, who are you?" Ranma asked, recognizing the language the overweight one spoke as Japanese, ready to flee or fight at a moment's notice.
"I am Soun Tendo and these are my daughters…" Soun introduced, he gestured to Kasumi "Kasumi aged 19…" he moved onto the one with an indifferent façade and intrigued expression "Nabiki aged 17…" then he moved to a girl with short blue hair, the one fuming silently in her seat and had yet to stop glaring at her "And my youngest Akane aged 16" Soun introduced.
"It's nice to meet you" Kasumi greeted.
"It's nice to meet you too, now where am I, why have you brought me here?" Ranma asked rather