------------------------
The Perfect Warrior
Chapter 2: Ghosts from the Past
------------------------

	Ruby awoke to the chirping of a rather obnoxious bird in the tree 
outside her window.  She yawned and glared in the direction of the 
chirping.  The bird, unfortunately, was never made aware of the anger 
it was inciting, the window being blocked by a shade at the moment.  
Not like it would have mattered- birds generally don't care about that 
sort of thing.

	She got out of bed and walked over to her old wooden bureau, 
dressing quickly.  She ran a comb through her long reddish-brown hair, 
pinning it behind her head in a ponytail.  She fastened her robe at the 
neck with a small golden brooch.  It had been her mother's one 
possession of value before she had died, and her grandmother's before 
that. Ruby wore it as a remembrance not only to her mother but to the 
other Amazons, people like her, who had been slain in the war with the 
Musk.  She had worn it constantly as a child, and while she didn't wear 
it on days when she had to go out on patrol, she still wore it 
frequently.  After all, what meaning would it have buried in a drawer 
somewhere?

	She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and focused on the 
present, taking a deep breath and mentally preparing herself for the 
day.  She went over to the door, opening it slowly so as not to disturb 
Ranma.  She noticed his mat was empty, and was mildly unsettled.  Ranma 
didn't know where anything was in the village- where he could have 
gone?  Ruby decided to look for him, first grabbing a pair of buckets 
from the kitchen.  She could walk to the well as she tried to find 
Ranma- if she found him, she could get him to carry the buckets back.  
She walked to the door and opened it, smiling both in relief and 
curiosity at the sight that greeted her.

	Ranma was out front, performing a kata.  It emphasized speed 
rather than strength, and Ranma's arms and legs blurred as he jumped 
and punched and kicked his way around the yard and street.

	Ruby leaned back against the house, watching him.  Ranma's kata 
slowed, and became more deliberate and concentrated on form rather than 
speed.  As the style of the kata shifted several more times, it became 
clear that he was improvising the kata as he went along.  It didn't 
matter- it was still incredible to watch.  She realized that Ranma was 
probably better than most of the warriors in the village already, and 
with a few years training might even surpass the matriarchs in fighting 
skill.

	With a final backwards somersault and a series of a kicks and 
punches, Ranma finished his kata and landed in an attacking stance.  
For several seconds, Ranma held the stance staring straight ahead at an 
unseen opponent.  Then he turned to Ruby and silently nodded a 
greeting.  Ruby held up a bucket and tossed it to him, motioning for 
him to follow her.

	The walk to the well was only a minute or two, but as they walked 
the sun peeked up over the trees on the far side of the village, 
turning half of the sky a brilliant orange.  Ruby smiled at the beauty 
of it and turned to Ranma, expecting to see a similar look on his face. 
There was none- Ranma moved slightly ahead of her and began punching 
the air.  Ruby frowned and wondered what he was thinking.

	Ruby walked back from the well by herself, as Ranma had balanced 
the bucket on his head and proceeded to run back to the house.  When 
she got there, she found Cologne, who was waiting outside by herself.  
She bowed.  "Good morning, Matriarch.  If you are here to see Ranma, I 
am not sure what to tell you- he should have returned by now."

	Cologne smiled.  "And so he did.  He's in the house, getting 
ready for his training.  I wanted to get as early a start as possible."

	Just then Ranma walked out the door.  He nodded to Ruby, and 
spoke to Cologne in Japanese.  Cologne responded, and turned to Ruby.  
"Well, we're off for the day.  Don't worry about breakfast," she 
grinned, "training is more important."

            ------------------------------------------------

	Cologne talked to Ranma constantly for the next couple of hours 
in Chinese, as she taught him the fundamentals of the language he would 
be speaking.  Ranma stated several times that he would rather be doing 
martial arts and let the language come later, but Cologne was 
insistent.  Despite his objections, Ranma proved to be an apt student 
and by the time they took a break two hours later (both of their 
stomachs protested heavily to skipping breakfast) Ranma already knew 
how to form basic phrases that would help him get around the village 
more easily.

	Even the break wasn't really a break.  Cologne took Ranma outside 
of the village and taught him to find food in the local woods- she 
showed him what berries and plants were edible and occasionally 
identified an animal that went scampering through the undergrowth.  
After they had spent a little while snacking on berries, Cologne 
withdrew a spear from her robes and Ranma spent twenty minutes trying 
to sneak up on and spear a rabbit while Cologne started a fire.  Ranma 
already knew how to cook food over a fire, so when it was done cooking 
they sat and ate.  Occasionally, the matriarch would speak a bit in 
Chinese and then translate for Ranma.

	After they ate, the language lessons continued as Cologne had 
Ranma put the fire out and eliminate all trace of it; by the time he 
was done, not only had he learned an important survival skill but he 
could describe the skill to someone else in Chinese. 

	As a reward for Ranma's progress in the morning, after lunch 
Cologne started Ranma on some practice drills and began teaching him 
some basic Amazon fighting styles.  As the sun moved into the west of 
the sky, Ranma showed no sign of tiring as Cologne continued to mix 
Chinese into the martial arts lessons.  Finally, the first of the watch 
fires were lit at the outskirts of the village and Cologne called a 
halt to the day's training.

	They began walking back, and the sun disappeared behind the 
mountains on the other side of the village.  As the red faded from the 
sky and more watch fires were lit, Ranma questioned Cologne about the 
village defenses and how the Amazons protected themselves from attack.  
Cologne just smiled and promised that the answers would come in time; 
while she would stake her honor on Ranma's trustworthiness, she would 
not stake the entire Amazon village on it quite yet.

	They headed back to Ruby's house for dinner.  Ruby wasn't on 
patrol that evening, but neither was she expecting Cologne to eat with 
them, so Cologne had Ranma go on another rabbit hunt on the outskirts 
on the village.  This time, Ranma was successful in about three 
minutes, and they reached Ruby's house as the last bits of color 
disappeared from the Western sky, leaving a colorless dusky light 
permeating the atmosphere.

	Ruby had already lit the dinner fire; she was pleased to have 
Cologne over for dinner since Cologne would be able to act as a 
translator between her and Ranma.  Despite the presence of a 
translator, Ranma ate quietly, speaking only when one of the other 
Amazons asked him a question directly and even then keeping his answers 
as short as possible.  Ranma also ate quickly; Cologne wondered if 
Ranma had been forced to fight for his food as a child.  Ruby pointed 
out the faint scars that lined Ranma's face to Cologne, who just 
frowned and filed it under the already-huge list of "Things to Find Out 
About Ranma" in her mind.

	After dinner, Cologne had to go meet with the matriarchs, while 
Ruby met with Jasmine for a training session.  Ranma spent the time 
outside doing katas or meditating until Ruby finally began putting out 
the lamps, and they both finally went to bed.

	For the next several days, this routine continued.  Ranma would 
spent the days training in language, martial arts, and survival skills 
with Cologne, and then return to Ruby's house in the evening.  Every 
other day Ruby had to go on patrol on the evenings, and the days on 
which she didn't patrol she taught.  Pepper, Lily, and Jasmine were 
among a group of ten or so young Amazons that studied under Ruby, and 
every other evening one or two of them would meet with Ruby to train.  
Once Ranma sat in on one of the sessions, but after receiving several 
cold looks from Pepper (and returning them as well) he spent his 
evenings practicing or meditating alone.

	As the days progressed, Cologne noticed that Ranma became more 
and more open with her, but only when she was teaching him.  He still 
said nothing about his childhood, however, and Cologne did not feel the 
time was ripe yet to press Ranma for information about his past.  Also, 
while he seemed more open when she was teaching him, his normal cold, 
harsh demeanor returned whenever they were not practicing martial 
arts.  Cologne bided her time, knowing that soon she would have to find 
out about his past.  The day came sooner than she expected.

            ------------------------------------------------

	One afternoon Cologne watched Ranma perform a kata.  It was the 
most complex kata she had made him do yet, but he still managed to pick 
it up extremely quickly.  As he finished the last combination of moves 
and took the final stance, Cologne smiled.  "All right, Ranma, that's 
enough for today."

	Ranma looked over at her.  "But the sun is still high.  We still 
have a couple of hours before we need to start heading back."  He 
suddenly grinned.  "I bet I could learn a whole kata in that time."

	Cologne chuckled.  "I have no doubt that you could.  But this 
stage of your training is coming to an end.  I can't keep training you; 
as chief matriarch, I have a lot of other things that require my time.  
Your Chinese has been progressing well; it's time that Ruby took over 
my role as your teacher."  Cologne noticed Ranma frown at this news.  
"She's been trained as a teacher, and she will be just as good a 
teacher as I am.  Besides," Cologne smiled, "it's under Ruby that you 
will learn the Amazon secret techniques."

	Ranma seemed to brighten at the mention of secret techniques.  
"Why do we have to go back now, though?"

	Cologne clubbed Ranma in the head with her cane.  Ranma's hand 
lashed out at lightning speed to disarm her, but she had already yanked 
it safely away.  "You're fast, boy, but not that fast.  Ruby is on 
patrol tonight, and I have to talk with her about this before she goes 
out.  Now let's go."

	As they walked toward the village, Ranma suddenly stopped.  His 
eyes narrowed, and he remained silent as though listening for 
something.  Cologne noticed, and jumped down from her cane.  "What is 
it?"  Ranma just stayed silent for a moment, looked behind him, then 
frowned.

	"I thought I felt something, that's all.  Sort of like we were 
being followed."

	Cologne reached out with her aura, scanning.  There were several 
faint presences on the edge of her senses, but they were probably 
Amazon patrols.  She doubted that anyone would be trying to sneak into 
the village in the middle of the day, so she dismissed it as nothing.  
"Well, if there is someone, they'll be stopped at the edge of the 
village."  She jumped back onto her cane and began pogoing down the 
path.  "Let's not waste any more time, Ranma."  He followed her, but 
the frown had not disappeared from his face.

      As they entered the village, he looked over his shoulder one more 
time and his stance relaxed slightly.  Cologne nodded to the Amazon 
standing guard, who bowed in deference to the matriarch and gazed at 
Ranma coldly before turning away.  Cologne frowned, but said nothing.  
Word had gotten out quickly about Ranma, and while some had praised 
Cologne's decision others thought that 'The Outsider' should be banned 
from the village, or even killed.  Even those who agreed with Cologne's 
decision had not bothered to be particularly friendly toward Ranma.  
Ranma was more than willing to be just as unfriendly to them, and 
didn't seem to mind being shunned.  Cologne hoped that once Ranma's 
fighting skills were better demonstrated he would be more accepted by 
the village.

	Ruby was standing outside her house talking with Lily.  When she 
saw Cologne, she said goodbye to Lily and shooed her away, and bowed to 
the matriarch.  "Hello, Cologne," she smiled at Ranma, "Hello, Ranma.  
You two are back awful early, aren't you?"

	Ranma frowned, and responded in broken Chinese.  "That what me 
think, too."

	"No, boy," Cologne rapped him on the head, "it's 'that's what I 
thought, too.'  Anyway," she looked back to Ruby, "it's time."

	"Time for what?"  Ruby looked at Cologne then at Ranma, then at 
Cologne again.  "Ah," she smiled, "time for that."

	"Yes, it is time for you to take over Ranma's training.  I have 
other duties to attend to, but I'm sure you will prove very capable of 
teaching him.  It will be a unique experience, though, and I need to 
talk to you about a few things regarding Ranma's training.  Let's go 
inside..."

	"Matriarch!  Matriarch, come quick!"  A green-haired Amazon came 
running around the corner, barely skidded to a stop in time to avoid 
running into Cologne, bowed quickly, and gasped in a breath.  "Sorry to 
interrupt, Matriarch, but we have a situation."

	Cologne frowned.  "What sort of situation, girl?  Be more 
specific!"

	The girl was still was gasping for breath.  "We apprehended an 
outsider attempting to sneak into the village.  We don't understand 
what he's saying, except for the word Ranma."   The Amazon eyed him 
uneasily, and then turned back to the matriarch.  "We thought it was 
best to advise you."

	"Indeed," said Cologne.  "Take us there."  She hopped back onto 
her cane, and switched her speech back to Japanese so she converse 
easier with Ranma.  "Come on, Ranma.  Could this be your 'teacher' that 
you broke off relations with?"

	He grimaced, and his eyes narrowed.  "That, and worse."  They ran 
back toward the outskirts of the village where Ranma and Cologne had 
entered minutes earlier.  "He's my father."

            ------------------------------------------------

	When they got there, they saw a fat balding man wearing a white 
bandanna on his head, glasses, and a white gi.  His arms were tied 
behind his back and two Amazons, one on each side of him, had swords 
pointed at his gut.  As soon as he saw Ranma, he began struggling, but 
a light poke from the swords made him cooperative again.  "Ranma!" he 
yelled.  "Thank goodness I found you!"  He glanced at his captors and 
smiled uneasily.

	Without pausing, Ranma strode up to his father and stopped about 
three feet away, eyeing him coldly.  Ruby was a few feet back to 
Ranma's right, and Cologne was on Ranma's left.  "So this is your 
father, Ranma?" asked Cologne in Japanese.

	"Yes!  Yes, I'm his father."  The man fidgeted between the swords 
holding him at bay and fixed a pleading look on Cologne's eyes.  "All I 
want is to collect my son- then we'll be out of your way."

	"Thanks, old man, but I can speak for myself.  This is Genma 
Saotome..." Ranma paused and clenched his fists, "my father."

	Cologne hopped towards Genma on her cane, and stopped when she 
was right at Ranma's side.  "I am Cologne, chief matriarch of the 
Amazons.  We have taken this boy under our protection.  From what I 
have heard..." she chuckled, "the boy is not all that keen to return to 
your custody."

	Ranma kept his eyes focused on his father.  "That's a way of 
putting it.  Here's another way- I would sooner spend the rest of my 
life roaming through China than spend another week with this honorless 
imbecile."

	Genma looked genuinely hurt at this proclamation.  "Please, 
Ranma.  I just wanted you to be a great martial artist.  And while you 
are great, I can keep training you and you may become the greatest in 
the world."

	"The reason I'm so good is because of my devotion, not yours."  
The tone of Ranma's voice, and the look he was giving his father, both 
hinted at extreme anger kept in check by a wall of self-control.  "The 
only thing I've done for the past six years is learn the martial arts, 
whether you were helping me or not.  And I use the term 'helping' very 
loosely.  Most of the time, it was just being beaten."

	Genma smiled knowingly.  "And it made you stronger.  Pain is a 
part of life, Ranma- especially if you're a martial artist.  You have 
to get used to it."

	Ranma didn't respond.  He glared, his expression unchanging, at 
his father, and it was Ruby who broke the silence this time.  The 
entire conversation had taken place in a language she didn't 
understand, and she desperately wanted to know what was happening.  
"What's going on here?  Is this man Ranma's father?"

	Cologne nodded.  "Ranma's father, and his teacher in the martial 
arts.  He has come to take Ranma back, but Ranma is less than willing 
to go."  She had already decided that there was no way they were 
handing Ranma back over to this man, no matter how effective his 
training was.  Not that she would ever admit it to the Council, but she 
was becoming fond of the boy and did not want to see him hurt.  As far 
as the Council knew, this was done entirely for the sake of the 
Joketsuzoku.

	She decided to take a more confrontational approach with this 
man.  Actually, more specifically, she decided to provoke a 
confrontation between him and someone else.  "Your suspicions about 
Ranma being abused were apparently correct.  His father admitted to 
beating him so that he would become used to pain and be a stronger 
martial artist, regardless of its effect on the boy's mind."

	Ruby stepped closer to Ranma, her face reddening in rage.  She 
stared directly at Genma with her fists clenched.  Genma noticed and 
moved backwards slightly, only to be stopped by the two swords.  Ruby 
pointed a finger at Genma, and in a voice that was quiet yet hard as 
rock, asked, "Why the hell would we ever send a child back to be raised 
with a scumbag like him?"

	Genma frowned. "What did she just say?"

	Cologne smiled wryly.  "Basically, she wanted to know why we 
would put an innocent boy back in the custody of a psychopathic maniac 
such as yourself."

	Genma's brow furrowed in anger.  "I am under obligation to raise 
Ranma to be a great martial artist.  I will do that at all costs," he 
put extra stress on the next words, "no matter what happens."

	Cologne turned to Ruby and translated.  Ruby was almost shaking 
with anger.  "This is the boy's father?!?  Please, Matriarch, we can't 
send Ranma back to live with this insane.." she moved forward until she 
was staring directly into Genma's face and almost spat, "miserable, 
pathetic excuse for a parent!"  She was yelling directly at him now.  
"I don't care what his motivations were, to treat a child in such a 
terrible way is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of!"  There 
was a pause before she backed away from him slowly, glaring at him.

	Cologne was surprised at Ruby's extremely strong reaction to this 
threat to Ranma.  She doubted that it was simple human compassion that 
caused it- Ruby's motherly instincts probably played a role.  She 
decided if motherly instincts were playing a part of it, then that was 
a good thing.  It meant she would take better care of Ranma, and 
possibly even start to countereffect the years of psychological damage 
done to him by the man they were confronting now.

	"You're right, Ruby."  She addressed Genma in Japanese.  "I'm 
sorry, but there's simply no way we can let you take this boy.  He is 
an Amazon now, and he is no longer your responsibility."

	Genma simply nodded.  "I see.  I'm sorry it has to come to 
this..." Cologne suddenly noticed his hand move, and realized that 
Genma's hands were no longer restrained.  She shouted a warning, but it 
was too late; he lunged to the side, pushing one of the guards to the 
ground and causing her to drop her sword.  He made a move toward the 
other guard, but in the blink of an eye Ruby had recovered the sword 
from the fallen guard and embedded it half an inch deep in the back of 
Genma's shoulder.

	Blood begin to drip from the wound.  After a second of shock, 
Genma pulled away only to run into the sword tip of the second Amazon 
guard.  Ruby looked over at Cologne.  "Let me run him through right 
now.  He attacked an Amazon, and he is an enemy of the tribe."

	Cologne shook her head.  "There will be no more blood today.  But 
know this," she walked over to Genma and her battle aura flared, "if 
you ever return to this village, or you ever approach Ranma, you will 
be killed."

	"That's right."  Ranma stepped up suddenly.  "And it won't be at 
the hands of the Amazons."  His voice was cold and even.  "I'll kill 
you myself."  It wasn't said as a threat, but as a simple fact.

	The directness of this statement shocked even Cologne and Ruby.  
Without a word, Ranma turned around and walked back into the village, 
not looking back once.

	For a long interval, Cologne, Genma, Ruby, and the guards just 
stared at Ranma's back.  Cologne snapped herself out of her shock, and 
turned back to Genma and the guards.  "Escort this man out of the 
village.  Use all force necessary to make him leave.  If he continually 
refuses to cooperate..." she paused, wondering whether she was making 
the right choice, "kill him.  Ruby, come with me."  She began heading 
back in the direction of Ruby's home, following Ranma.  "It's time we 
learned a little more about Ranma's past."  They walked away, looking 
back only once to make sure Genma was well on his way out of the 
village.

	Cologne was not sure whether or not to be surprised that Ranma 
was not at Ruby's house.  On one hand, an encounter like that would 
cause great emotions in a normal person and Ranma might have needed 
some time alone.  On the other hand, Ranma was not a normal person- his 
last statement to his father was proof of that.  There was something 
seriously skewed about Ranma's personality and his emotions, and it was 
time for her to find out why that was.

	"Ruby, stay here in case Ranma comes back.  I'm going to go try 
and find him."  Once again, she was not sure how happy Ranma would be 
that someone had gone looking for him, whether he valued his time alone 
or not.  Well, she certainly wouldn't find out by not looking for him- 
the only way she could find the answers to her questions would be to 
find him and hope for the best.

	She didn't have to look far.  Ranma was not more than two 
minutes' walk away, doing a kata in a small clearing surrounded by 
houses.  A few kids who lived nearby had come out to watch the strange 
outsider, but he did not react to or even acknowledge their presence.  She 
approached him, who was still absorbed in his kata.  "Ranma," she tried 
to get his attention.

	It soon became clear that he was unwilling to react to anything 
outside his kata.  Cologne decided to humor him and waited for him to 
finish.  The kata was a simple one, and a minute later he landed in his 
final stance, held it for a few seconds, and then turned to the 
matriarch.  He stood there, and she realized he was waiting for her to 
break the silence.

	Cologne looked around and with a wave of her hand send the 
audience of kids running home.  She tried to be as indirect as possible 
with Ranma.  "I know that meeting was difficult for you, Ranma.  It 
would be difficult for anyone.  Do you want to talk about it?"

	"You present that question as if I had a choice in the matter."  
Ranma eyed her coldly.  "I doubt that's actually the case."

	She would give one thing to the boy, he was extremely 
perceptive.  Even if he didn't tell her now, she would continue to 
pester him- it was only a matter of time.  "If you do not want to talk 
about it, I will not force it from you.  However, eventually I will 
need to know more about your past and your time with your father."  
While that was not completely true, it was true that knowing about his 
past would help her be able to understand him better, which was 
important, if not necessary.

	Ranma frowned and crossed his arms.  "Why is my past important?  
I'm here to train and become a warrior.  I'm here to concentrate on the 
future."

	Cologne sighed and nodded.  "Yes, Ranma, I know, but that doesn't 
make the past unimportant.  To get where we are going, we must first 
understand where we are coming from.  It is impossible for us to help you 
reach your full potential without understanding more about your 
background.  That is why you have to tell me more about yourself and 
your past."

	Ranma sighed.  "Fine.  What do you want to know?"

	Cologne shook her head.  "Let's not talk here.  Shall we go back 
to Ruby's?"

	"No," he replied.  "I don't want to feel like a storyteller.  
Besides, there's a language barrier- either I'd have to talk in shaky 
Chinese or you'd have to stop me every ten seconds and translate."

	Cologne nodded.  "Fine.  We'll go back to my place.  It's a 
little smaller than Ruby's, but it's comfortable."

            ------------------------------------------------

	When Cologne said that her place was smaller, what she meant was 
that it was only one room- and that room was smaller than Ruby's living 
room.  Unlike some matriarchs who chose to use their positions of power 
for personal gain (Cologne refrained from mentally naming names), she 
preferred to keep it modest.  Having elaborate living quarters tended 
to make one feel more distanced from the regular people and problems of 
the village, and that was something that she felt as chief matriarch 
she could not afford.

	A few minutes later, the water was heating for tea and Cologne 
and Ranma were sitting across from each other on the floor.  "All 
right, Ranma.  Begin when you're ready."

	Ranma frowned.  "With what?  You never told me what you wanted to 
know."

	Cologne sighed inwardly. She had been hoping Ranma would 
volunteer information on his own, but it appeared that he would only 
talk about what she asked him to- and reluctantly at that.  "Very 
well.  Why don't you tell me about why you left your father?  Please, 
Ranma, the more you tell me the better I can understand where you're 
coming from and the better I can help you through your problems to 
reach your full potential."

	Ranma narrowed his eyes when she mentioned acquiring a better 
understanding of him, but he didn't say anything.  He waited a couple 
of seconds, and then sighed and began his story.

	"The two things you have to understand about Genma are, he's an 
idiot, and he has the morals of pond scum.  For six years, we traveled 
throughout Japan, training at various places.  Eventually, it became 
clear to me exactly what sort of a person Genma was."  Ranma paused.  
He stared off into space, as though he was lost in the memories.  
Cologne was about to question him when he suddenly started speaking 
again.  "I decided that it was only a matter of time until I left him 
for good.

	"About a year ago, he got his hands- somehow- on an old book that 
detailed several different Chinese training grounds.  The book was 
almost completely in Chinese, but of course he wouldn't let a minor 
little detail like that stop him.  He was particularly interested in a 
place called Jusenkyo.  So we left Japan, and crossed back and forth 
through China for months."

	"All that time, you were looking for Jusenkyo."

	"Yes.  Genma figured a true martial artist would be able to find 
the place on his own, without asking for help."

	Cologne sighed.  Why is it, she thought, that men have such 
problems with stopping to ask for directions?

	"Finally, we enlisted the help of a local guide who spoke some 
Japanese.  He seemed reluctant to take us to Jusenkyo at first, but 
after Genma agreed to pay him well he agreed, and we made it to 
Jusenkyo.  At first, it looked like a pretty good training ground- I 
figured maybe Genma had done something right."  Ranma let a wry grin 
cross his face, before it was once again overwhelmed by anger.  "I 
should have known better.  Genma never does anything right."

	"We faced off against each other on the poles, and as we leapt at 
each other I heard our Guide yelling something or other about curses.  
It distracted me long enough for him to get a solid hit in, and I fell 
into a spring."  He paused, as if unwilling to contemplate the curse 
that the spring had given him.

	Cologne got up from where she was sitting and went over to the 
stove.  "Nyannichuan," she said as she poured two cups of tea.

	"Nyannichuan," Ranma confirmed.  "As soon as I realized what had 
happened, I was furious.  I asked the guard about the curse, and he was 
able to supply me with the information I needed before the lack of 
oxygen rendered him unconscious."  Ranma calmly accepted the cup of tea 
Cologne handed him and blew lightly on it, scattering the thin wisps of 
steam that rose from its surface.

	"Hurting innocent people hardly seems like a decent approach to 
the problem."  Cologne sat back down facing Ranma and frowned.

	"I really don't consider him innocent.  He could have told us 
about the true nature of the Jusenkyo curses long before we were 
actually at Jusenkyo, but he didn't.  He was too focused on getting the 
money my father had promised him, and safety be damned."  He stirred 
his tea with his finger.  "Maybe I shouldn't have, but if it were you 
who had just acquired a Jusenkyo curse, would you be acting rationally?"

	Cologne chuckled.  "No, I probably wouldn't."

	Ranma took a slow sip of tea before talking again.  "Anyway," he 
continued, "I decided the time had come to leave Genma.  After a brief 
fight, I defeated him and left him unconscious and bleeding at the edge 
of Jusenkyo.  At the time, I didn't know whether or not he would live, 
and I was far too angry to care.  About that time our Guide had 
recovered, so he supplied me with some hot water.  Then I went through 
Genma's backpack in case there was anything I might need in there, and 
left.  I suppose after that, the Guide gave my father the medical care 
he needed to survive. Too bad, really.  He would have done the world a 
favor by letting him die."  Ranma paused, and took another sip of tea.

	Cologne was uneasy at the calmness with which Ranma talked of his 
father dying, but before she could think of an appropriate comment he 
had continued his story.

	"And that's about all there is to it.  I wandered the backwoods 
of China for a while, not really caring to go back to Japan just then.  
It had been a rainy afternoon, and the ground was muddy and wet, so I 
climbed up on a rock to get some sleep.  I woke up and noticed three 
figures coming toward me.  They turned out to be Amazon warriors who 
I decided did not have my best interests in mind.  I attacked before 
they could, and the rest, as they say, is history."

	Cologne was still wondering about Ranma's hatred toward his 
father, and asked him a question that she hoped would allow her to 
better understand why Ranma felt the way he did.  "What was your 
father's training like?  Why was it so bad?"

	"It consisted of two main things.  One, him beating me up in some 
form or another- with his fists, feet, wild animals- you name it.  Two, 
it consisted of fighting off and running away from people who were 
after him."

	"Why were they after him?"

	Ranma's eyes flashed anger.  "Didn't I make it clear?  Genma is 
an honorless, lying piece of scum.  There was always someone after him 
for something he had stolen or some promise he had broken."  Cologne 
almost detected a hint of disappointment in Ranma's voice.  "He lied to 
so many people in some way or another I can't keep track of them all."  
Then the disappointment was gone, replaced once again with anger.  "He 
was as bad a father as anyone could ask for."

	Cologne opened her mouth to speak, but Ranma got up.  He drank 
the last of his tea, and set the cup down.  "If you'll excuse me, 
Matriarch.  I'm feeling tired, and really would prefer to not talk 
anymore."

	Cologne was surprised by the sudden formal harshness in Ranma's 
voice.  And here she thought he was being so open.  Well, she had 
gotten more information than she had expected to get in the first try.  
She smiled.  "All right, Ranma.  Good night, then.  I'll see you within 
a couple of days.  Remember, though, Ruby is your teacher as of 
tomorrow."

	Ranma walked out without saying a word, leaving Cologne to wonder 
about some of the things Ranma had said.  She was sure of one thing- 
despite having Genma as a role model, and despite being cold and harsh 
to the world, Ranma had a very real sense of honor.  Granted, his honor 
was skewed in a few places, but it was there nevertheless.  She decided 
she would be willing to trust him more now.

	She remembered that she had forgotten to ask him if it was all 
right to share his story with Ruby and a few of the other matriarchs.  
She shrugged.  It might do Ruby some good to know a little bit more 
about her houseguest.  After all, Ranma hadn't asked that she not share 
the information.  Well, what Ranma doesn't know won't hurt him, she 
figured.  She would share what she had learned with Ruby the next time 
she saw her.