Dear Readers:
        It's been a long time, but here is my latest fic!  I hope you like
it.  Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome and greatly
appreciated.
        Many thanks to the members of the Newbie Forum for all their C&C
and support!

^_^

Cindy




The Heart of the Warrior
by Cindy Toler

        "An Mei!" a voice called out.  "Wait for me!"  The redhead turned
around and waited as her friend Xian Ko ran to catch up to her.  Xian Ko
slowed to a walk as she saw that An Mei was waiting for her.  An Mei gazed
around at the village, just beginning to stir to life in the first few
moments of daylight.  It was a poor, shabby little town, but An Mei loved
it, from the dusty path that served as the main thoroughfare to the
handmade tiles that crowned the roofs.  An Mei had traveled on many
training trips, perfecting her skill in the Martial Art of the Cat Fist,
but her heart had always been here.  Home.
        An Mei grinned as Xian Ko finally caught up to her and then they
both turned away from the village.  An Mei's steps quickened as she made
her way along the wooded path, a path she had traveled nearly every morning
of her life.  Xian Ko huffed along beside her until she finally caught her
breath, and then the two of them started walking more and more quickly.  By
the time the path had begun to widen, the girls were running at top speed.
An Mei burst out into the clearing a few steps ahead of her friend, and
then the two of them stopped, laughing.
        "I won," An Mei panted.
        "You..." Xian Ko gasped, "always win."
        An Mei grinned and with one graceful motion she effortlessly leaped
up onto the training log.  Suspended a few feet off the ground and worn
smooth by years of constant use, the log was one of her Tribe's special
training spots.  An Mei had come here every morning of her life since her
third birthday, learning and practicing her Art, preparing for the
Tournament of Amazons.  Now, after twelve years of nearly constant
training, her first Tournament Day was only a few weeks away, and An Mei
would stand for the first time in the true Arena.  She was determined to
win the prize for the honor of her people, and most of those who had seen
her fight believed she would do just that.
        "Come on, Xian Ko," An Mei called, and her friend clambered up onto
the log to meet her.  Unlike An Mei, Xian Ko had neither the innate
fighting skill nor the ferocious heart of the Warrior.  She followed
instead the path of the Hunter, a task less glamorous but equally important
to the Tribe.  Xian Ko hunted in quiet and solitude, killing to feed her
people and giving thanks to the spirits of the animals for surrendering
their lives.  Xian Ko's gift was in stealth rather than outright
confrontation, in patience and stillness rather than violence, in tracking
and pursuit rather than challenging directly.  For all of that, she and An
Mei had a deep and lasting friendship, based on mutual respect without
envy.  Xian Ko, too, was eagerly looking forward to Tournament Day, already
anticipating An Mei's victory.
        "Ready?" An Mei asked, grinning.  Xian Ko grinned back and nodded
in reply.  An Mei charged at her in a blur of motion, and Xian Ko did her
best to counter.  The outcome of this sparring match was inevitable; the
challenge for An Mei was in control, in pulling her punches and keeping
Xian Ko on the log.
        "Come on, Xian Ko, you're not even trying!" An Mei complained,
peppering her friend with a flurry of blows that barely connected, tapping
just hard enough on one side to knock Xian Ko off-balance and then on the
other side to keep her upright.  Xian Ko ducked unexpectedly and dove for
An Mei's feet.  The red-haired Warrior gracefully leaped over her friend,
landing lightly on the smooth glossy wood.  While Xian Ko was turning to
face her again, An Mei unleashed her most deadly attack.
        "Ack!" Xian Ko shrieked.  "Stop tickling me!"  The two girls
tickled each other till they fell off the log and lay on the ground,
laughing.
        Suddenly, An Mei sat up, hearing cries in the distance, from the
direction of the village.  Battle cries.  Over the line of trees, a thin
column of smoke rose to the sky like a wraith.  An Mei leaped to her feet
and ran, Xian Ko right at her heels...



        Ranma sat up in bed, panting, his heart pounding.
        "The village..." he mumbled, and then slowly the world came into
focus around him.  Sunlight spilled in through the windows, caressing his
cheek with its warmth.  Ranma blinked a few times, sensing the hard floor
beneath his futon, the smooth fabric of his covers bunched up in his fists.
Slowly he relaxed, breathing evenly.  Then he got up and gathered some
clean clothes.
        "It was just a bad dream," he whispered to himself, but he couldn't
shake the feeling of foreboding.  "Just a dream."
        Ranma shook himself, and went to take his bath, wondering how he
would explain to Akane about last night.  The expression on her face when
she'd seen Shampoo in the bath with him...



        "Where you going, Great-Grandmother?" Shan Pu asked.
        "I have come a long way to help you win your future husband," the
old woman answered.  "I think it's time I finally met him."
        Shan Pu gazed at her elder with a hopeful, almost worshipful
expression.  Ko Ron stifled a weary sigh and leaped up onto the roof of the
Nekohanten.  Her bones protested agonizingly, and Ko Ron ruthlessly ignored
the pain, determined not to show weakness in front of Shan Pu.  Pain was
nothing to an Amazon.  Pride, on the other hand, was all.
        Ko Ron vaulted nimbly from rooftop to rooftop, her long hair
streaming out behind her like a banner.  Her joints forgave her the abuse
as she warmed up, and she began to smile, feeling almost young again.
        Up ahead, she saw her target, a figure in Chinese clothes flying
through the air.  Ko Ron was aware - painfully aware - of her future
son-in-law's curse.  She had seen the curses in action, had even caused
Shan Pu to acquire one.
        "It was her own fault," Ko Ron muttered against the stab of guilt
she felt.  "If she had only followed her training, it would never have
happened. At least it was only a drowned-cat curse."  Still, it was a blot
on the honor of the Tribe, and Ranma's defeat and abandonment of Shan Pu
was yet another insult to that honor.  One which would not, could not be
tolerated.
        Son-in-law was coming in fast now, and with a grin Ko Ron leaped to
intercept him, striking out at him with her staff.  Ranma changed
directions midair, cat-like, and landed facing her in a  defensive stance.
        "Two surprises," Ko Ron thought, as she looked at Ranma for the
first time.  Not only was she facing the girl half, but also an obviously
skilled Martial Artist.  Even Shan Pu could not evade the blow of her
staff, and she was among the Tribe's most promising Warriors.
        "And who are you?" Ranma asked.  Ko Ron froze for an instant.  That
voice...it couldn't be.
        "You're not bad...son-in law," Ko Ron finally answered.  "We'll
meet again!"  She leaped away, cackling wildly, but her heart was thumping
a frantic rhythm.  As soon as she was sure she was out of sight, she
stopped and sat down, breathing hard.  She knew Ranma was Jusenkyo-cursed,
but she hadn't expected this...
        Ko Ron got up and made her way back to the Nekohanten, suddenly
feeling like an old woman.

*****

        Ranma sighed as she punched her pillow yet again and tried to
settle down to sleep.  It wasn't easy, with a Panda's snores echoing
through the room.  She flopped over onto her back and glared up at the
ceiling.  That old ghoul!  Trying to force her into marrying Shampoo by
using the Cat-Tongue Shiatsu point, of all things!
        "Hmm!" Ranma grunted as she rolled over to face away from the
sleeping Panda.  Cologne's words to her that afternoon echoed in her mind.
        "You must learn patience, son-in-law," the old ghoul had said.
Ranma's eyes slowly drooped closed...
        Patience...patience....



        An Mei crouched under a cover of leaves, her hands stiff from
holding on so tightly to her bow and arrow.  She had been intently watching
the little clearing for more than an hour now, and for a seven-year-old
that was a very long time.  She glanced across to the bush that concealed
her best friend, Xian Ko.  Xian Ko had vanished completely and was
invisible even to one who knew where to look.
        An Mei sighed and shifted her position slightly as she turned her
attention back to the clearing - in time to see her prey, a rabbit alerted
by her noise, escaping unharmed.
        "An Mei!" said the exasperated voice of one of the Tribe's Mothers.
An Mei stood, biting her lip and hanging her head in consternation.  "A
hunt requires patience, child," the Mother said more gently.
        "But why must I study the Hunt, Mother?" An Mei asked humbly.  "I
am to be a Warrior."
        "Even a Warrior must needs be able to feed herself," the Mother
replied.  "And patience is as much a Warrior's skill as any other, for it
takes patience to plan a strategy, to wait for the right moment to strike a
foe."
        "Yes, Mother," An Mei replied soberly.
        "Good," said the Mother.  "Now let us find another spot and try
again.  Come along, Xian Ko."
        Xian Ko appeared like magic out of her camouflage, and fell into
step beside An Mei.  She gave her friend's hand a gentle squeeze as they
followed the Mother, making no sound and leaving behind them no trace of
their passage.



        "Ranma, wake up!" Akane's annoyed voice said.  "And stop calling me
Mother!!!"
        "Mnnnh?" Ranma said as she peeled her eyes open.  "Time to get up
already?"
        "You're going to be late for work if you don't get going!" Akane
snapped, and then left the room muttering to herself.
        Ranma dragged herself out of bed and began pulling on the clothes
she would wear to work in spite of the complaints of her sore muscles.  It
had been weeks now, weeks of being unable to tolerate hot water.  If she
could only get the Phoenix Pill away from that old ghoul, she could finally
quit this stupid job and turn back into a guy.
        "Right!  Today's the day!" she said determinedly, much as she had
every morning since Cologne had first dangled the Phoenix Pill in front of
her dazzled eyes.  With no further ado, Ranma raced off to the Nekohanten.


*****


        Ko Ron settled down in front of the television with a steaming cup
of tea and reflected on the day's events.  The incident at the fair had
proved to be a close call.  Son-in-law had certainly proved himself by
mastering the "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" technique.  Luckily she
had expected him to master it, and had hidden the Phoenix Pill in a safe
place.  She had not expected him to prove this stubborn, however.  She only
prayed that he would tire of this struggle soon and agree to marry Shan Pu.
Maybe she could end this before it turned into a full-fledged nightmare.




        An Mei raced down the path, tearing through brush and brambles
heedlessly, gasping for breath as her heart hammered against her ribs in
panic.  Xian Ko tackled her from behind just as she was about to break out
into the clearing, and in the one horrified moment before she hit the
ground, An Mei saw everything.  Her village burning, her people screaming
and dying.  The dusty street splattered with gore and littered with the
bodies of the dead, and men.  Men, walking over the bodies with flaming
torches, men murdering her people, men destroying what they could not own.
        "Patience!" Xian Ko gasped as An Mei started to get up.  An Mei
paused, remembering the Mother's advice.   She wondered if the Mother still
lived.
        A few of the younger Tribe members, not yet old enough for the
Initiation, huddled together shrieking and weeping as their Warrior
protectors struggled to defend them.  An Mei wriggled out from under Xian
Ko, and with a savage, terrible cry of grief and fury, she leaped out of
cover to destroy her enemies...



        Ranma woke up to the sound of a scream, and realized as his eyes
opened that it had been his own voice.  He sat up and looked over at his
father, who was thankfully still sleeping in his Panda form.  Very little
could disturb the Panda when he was sleeping.
        It was still dark out, but Ranma got up anyway and went to take a
bath.  Since he had finally won the Phoenix Pill from the old ghoul,
nothing made him feel more at ease than a steaming hot bath.  He figured
the combination of the heat with the affirmation that he was definitely NOT
a woman must be what he found so soothing.


*****

        Ko Ron lay down with a weary sigh.  It had been a long, trying
time, and even her use of the Cat-Tongue Shiatsu point had not convinced
son-in-law to honor his obligation to Shan Pu.  She had entertained some
doubts until she saw son-in-law actually using the Cat Fist technique, and
now her soul was chilled by memory.  She had given him the Phoenix Pill, in
the hope that changing him back to a man might delay the inevitable - a
prize for a fighting spirit, indeed.  Ko Ron lay with her eyes open,
staring into the black shadows on the ceiling, old and tired and at a loss.
        Perched on a beam above her, wrapped carefully in black cloth and
shrouded in deep shadows, a small flask sat waiting.  Her wedding gift to
Shan Pu's groom, the Nannichuan.  Would she ever have the opportunity to
give it to him?  Would it be in time?




        Ranma let the water out of the tub and opened the bathroom door
silently.  Yawning, he padded on bare feet down to the kitchen, careful to
make no sound and leave no trace of his passage.  He stopped just short of
the kitchen door and blinked.  Since when did he care whether people knew
he had been there?
        Ranma shook his head silently, feeling silly.  He just needed to
sleep better, that was all.

*****

        "An Mei, no!" Xian Ko's voice hissed behind her, but the Warrior
was already in motion, leaping out of the trees and hurling herself at her
enemy like a lioness running down its prey.
        One man turned and saw her coming, a woman with wild eyes and fiery
hair bearing down on him empty-handed.  He died before he could laugh,
astonished that a mere unarmed woman could pose such a threat.
        The Warrior looked up from the corpse of her first kill and stepped
over him, grinding his surprised face into the bloody mire that the street
had become.  Across the battlefield, her eyes met the cold dark eyes of the
Man that could only be the leader.  He smiled coldly and made a quick
gesture towards her, and several men rushed at her with swords drawn.  An
Mei snarled in contempt as she killed them with deadly precision, each
graceful gesture one of economy and efficiency.  More men ran up to meet
her, and out of her peripheral vision she saw a man's arm raising to strike
at her, and one of Xian Ko's arrows piercing his throat.  His blood
splattered over her as he fell dying, and An Mei grimly wiped it off,
steeling herself against her growing horror...



        Ranma sat bolt upright in his bed with a gasp.  He remembered
staring into cold dark eyes...   With a shudder he got up and started to
gather his things for another bath.  His body was slick with sweat, and his
hands trembled as he recalled the emotions behind the dream.
        "These nightmares keep getting worse," he thought.  "I must be
stressed out."
        "Ranma!" Akane's voice called from downstairs.  "Hurry up, or we're
gonna be late again!"
        "Speaking of stress..." Ranma grumbled.



        Ko Ron woke with a start from her own troubling dream, and pressed
a withered hand against her chest, as if to keep her heart from leaping
out.  She slowly eased her aching body out of bed, an agonizing process
that took a full ten minutes.  The dream hadn't really been a dream, but a
terrifying memory she had tried to put behind her for many years.
        "Ah, Sun Li," she sighed, her heart twisting with grief.  "Must you
haunt me still?"  The memory flooded back to her, of her childhood friend,
Sun Li.  The two had been inseparable, even when it came time to announce
their chosen Paths.  Ko Ron had chosen the path of the Warrior, for it had
been obvious from the time of her birth that she would be both a fighter
and a Leader of the Tribe.  Sun Li, a gentle soul more suited to the
kitchens or the training of the children, had elected the path of the
Warrior as well, so as not to be separated from her one friend.  But how
could any of them have known what disaster would follow?

*****

        "Ranma, are you OK?" Akane asked.  "You look horrible."
        "I just haven't slept well lately, is all," Ranma answered a little
gruffly.  He was not going to admit that he'd been having nightmares,
especially not to Akane.  Men didn't have nightmares, and he was a man,
right?
        "Why, what's wrong?"
        "Nothing!" Ranma said with a little more force than was necessary.
"Come on, we're late again!"  And he took off running, grinning at Akane's
muted huff of exasperation.  She couldn't ask questions while she was out
of breath!
        Ranma and Akane arrived at the school yard early; in fact, Kuno
hadn't even gotten there yet to lie in wait for them.  Akane glared over at
Ranma, still panting from their run, and Ranma shrugged.
        "Well, I thought we were running late," he said.  Akane turned on
her heel and stalked over to the lockers.  They changed shoes in silence
and went to their classroom.  Ranma sneaked a glance over at Akane as he
slid into his desk.  She had an irritated frown on her face.  Ranma sighed
and propped his head up with his fist, and closed his eyes for just a
moment...