"We have arrived." Prince Toma said. Ranma rolled her eyes but stayed silent at his words. She had realized they had arrived. The one thing she was glad about was that he had let her change into her normal clothes again.

"So you are Ranma Saotome, yes?" Toma asked. "That is a... nice name."

Ranma tried to imagine how she should react. She needed to keep herself on Toma's good side until she could get the water. "Uh, thanks?" She said hopefully.

Toma laughed, a short, merry laugh. It sounded almost like he was literally saying the words 'ah-ha' three times. "I have never felt like this before, Ranma." Toma said happily. Ranma gave an inward shudder. Don't be fooled, he's someone who uses others for entertainment..

She decided to change the subject, towards her goal, and to distract him away from her in general. "Why don't you have many female guards?" She asked, hoping Toma wouldn't know that most guards were male normally.

"Ah, you have touched upon our island's curse." Toma said sadly. "The water here turned all living things into men at one time, and although we blocked up the water, the curse remains on the island. All that are born here are men. We must find our women elsewhere."

"Oh..." Ranma said, trying to act as if this was a surprise to her.

"Indeed, it is one of our islands most closely guarded secrets." Toma said. He took a circular pendant and pushed it into a similar sized hole in the stone, and the wall behind him opened. When it had grated open, Toma led Ranma to it. "This is all the water." He told her. "We contained it here so it would not inflict it's curse on any more of the islands creatures. Alas, it did not work, as all the animals here died out from lack of females. Humans are all that is left. The remains of the animals, as you may have been able to tell, were also turned into humans."

"Why not move away?" Ranma asked, intrigued. "I mean, it's not like there's anything stopping ya."

"We keep the water here to stop it leaking into the oceans." Toma told her. "You can imagine the disaster that would occur if this became sea-water." Ranma nodded, realizing what he said was true.

"That's quite noble of ya." Ranma said. Suddenly, Ryoga started squirming madly in Ranma's grip. I thought he was knocked out! But now he knows where the well is! How could I have been so stupid? She smashed the piglet's head into a table, knocking him out again. "I'll deal with you in a minute..." She murmured to him.

Luckily, Toma didn't seem to notice. Ranma was disappointed, however, when Toma closed the water well. "You must never reveal the location of this water." He warned Ranma.

Ranma grinned. "I won't. I would never dream of it. Can I look around the castle?"

Toma looked unperturbed by her request. "Of course. I shall accompany you." He told her. "I do not want you getting lost."

Ranma cursed inwardly. As if! And thinking of lost, what am I gonna do about Ryoga?

Just then, a wolf-like man made his appearance. "Prince!" He cried, running into the room. "Prince, there's an emergency!"

Prince Toma looked at the monkey man. "You do realize you have entered my chambers without leave?" He asked, his voice showing the same, annoying lack of emotion, but the anger was clear nevertheless.

"I am very sorry for my lack of manners Prince Toma, but we have been invaded." The wolf man told him, regaining his composure. "Our forces are currently battling the intruder."

"Invaded?" Toma asked "By how many? Why are they not defeated? What do they want with us?"

"I am not sure, but I think there is one enemy." The man mumbled. "From what I've heard."

"I will deal with him myself." Toma told him. "Ranma, you shall stay here."

"Hey, I can fight too ya-" Ranma protested. Then she realized what that entailed. "I mean, sure Prince Toma" She changed track almost instantly, her voice becoming sickly sweet.

"Good." Toma said, seeming not to notice Ranma's mood swing. Must think he persuaded me or somethin'. Well, as long as it works.

Ranma waited patiently for Toma and the monkey man to leave, and waited a bit more, just to be sure they were gone. Then she quickly left and headed in a random direction. She looked for any signs of hot water in every doorway she could find, but to no avail. Every door she opened seemed to be one of the men's rooms, most of which seemed to be empty.

She was about to give up and go on as a girl, keeping the still unconscious Ryoga in her hand, when she heard a loud battle cry. She ran over and saw a boy, around the same age as her, probably a bit older, dressed in brown. He had a slim build, and was incredibly agile, so much so that Ranma's eyes had a hard time keeping up. He had short-ish, dull silver hair and yellow eyes. He was in the middle of facing off against a masked, birdlike man. They seemed to be in an Aerial battle.

The birdman shot out some darts from his wings, and the boy avoided them with ease, and struck the Birdman with his foot, using him as a stool to stay in the air. He seemed to be carrying a hot water bottle, which was still warm, Ranma noted, as there was steam coming out the badly closed lid.

"Hey, whatever your name is, can I have that water?" She called up the the boy. The boy stayed silent for a second, finishing off the Birdman with one last hit. He landed skilfully, and turned to face his next opponent, the monkey man Ranma had seen earlier.

"What will you give me if I give it to you?" He asked, screwing the lid on securely, stopping the flow of steam. His opponent stayed unusually still while he asked his.

"Give you?" Ranma asked "Uh, I'll show you something really cool."

"Deal." The boy replied. He tossed the water to Ranma, who poured it over Ryoga, then herself. The boys gave a sigh of relief.

Ranma turned back to the boy, but was surprised to see him covered in shadows. The boy was looking down, tears streaming from his eyes. The monkey man near him laughed, in a deep, serious voice.

"That's what you get for underestimating the elite soldiers here." He said. "You may have defeated Toristan, but you won't get past me now. My Shadowfall makes you experience your worst nightmares come true. There is no escape from the circle of depression."

Some of Toma's soldiers ran in at that point. Ranma guessed they were the auxiliary forces, as they had Toma with them. Toma looked around and saw the Shadowlock placed on the intruder.

"I seems my presence was, as I had thought, unneeded." Toma said. "Very good, Sarutoru, you may dispatch of him now."

Sarutoru looked uncertain. "Master Toma, he seems to be smiling."

"Oh, you shouldn't have made me so sad." the boy said, in an angry, low volume tone, a tormented smile upon his face. "Now you can pay the price." The boy lifted his hands into a circular shape, and let out a cry, a horrendous cry that chilled Ranma to the core. "Shishi Hokodan!" He yelled. An enormous ball of energy spouted from his hands. Toma smirked and turned translucent. It rose high, and then smashed back down into the ground. The crater left behind was huge, and Sarutoru lay on the ground, out for the count. Toma however, remained unharmed. After a second, the boy let out a yell of pain, and he fell onto his knees. Toma was smiling.

"That was quite the trick you had there. Very useful." He said. "It is a shame for you my Mirror Aura can reverse all attacks back onto the user. Now I shall have to dispatch of your helper over there."

Ryoga had gone, Ranma noted. He looked around quicly to confirm, then took on a light stance and faced Toma. But the boy behind him wasn't done. "Shishi Hokodan!" He yelled again. Toma's body paled once again, and the giant sphere of destruction landed again. Toma's body returned to normal, and Ranma took his chance and barraged Toma with punches, sending him flying.

Toma looked shocked as he fell to the ground. The other boy looked fine, Ranma noted, so he assumed Toma's counterattack had somehow failed. The boy slumped as Ranma watched however, and Ranma ran over to help him. Toma was not as incapable as Ranma had thought however. He had got back up quickly, and Ranma felt a sudden pain as Toma's sword landed a hit on his side.

"You're still conscious?" Ranma asked, almost keeling over in pain. He covered his wound with one hand and raised the other "You're a lot tougher than I took you to be then. How 'bouts we try this again?"

Ranma ran at Toma, ignoring the pain in his side. Toma smiled and his eyes glinted purple. "Shock wave!" He said, drawing his sword with his left hand. An invisible wave of energy pulsed and stopped Ranma dead in his tracks.

"How dare you attack me?" He asked, switching his sword to his right hand "Take this then! Illusion Sword Chaotic Mirage Attack!"

Flames came out his sword, and engulfed Ranma. Ranma let out a cry of pain, and felt his skin burning. He tried to break through it, but to no avail. When the flames were released, Toma spoke again.

"Remember this. Nobody can beat me, for I am Togenkyo Island's Prince of Illusions." He told Ranma. "Wanton, dispose of this rubbish. I do not want them messing up my palace."

Unbeknown to Ranma, a large, stupid-looking, whiskered man had entered the room. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt and a studded two part cloth garment around his waist, secured by a belt. He had a metal collar with a chain coming out of it around his neck, and a wristband around each arm. He looked like he would be incredibly easy to beat, but Ranma had quickly learnt appearances weren't everything.

Toma rose up and a giant, peach colored dome encircled him. Then he teleported away, leaving Ranma to face Wonton in his wake.

1,794 words

How long has it been since I updated...? Parental controls on my computer prevented me from updating until now, but I have a new comp now, so here is the latest chapter! Sorry it's not the 2k I promised, but I'll try and get in another chapter tomorrow instead.

I'm gonna try and keep the authors noted short but sweet to decrease the amount added onto the words in the story - I don't want to make it seem longer than it really is! I'll reply to any questions here too, so please comment, criticize, follow and favorite.

I came up with this OC a short while ago, and I've already come up with his name, so I'll introduced Ikuto Hanashii, master of the air, properly next chapter! Also, as for the Shishi hokodan, Ryoga was taught by a small miner guy. I think that entitles other guys to learn it too.

Tha Master