Ryouga sat by the guide's hut, staring at his pack. The old crone and her beautiful but haughty young daughter had left to return to their village, and not given him a second glance.
He had decided to try and find Ranma himself. He had come to terms with the thought that Ranma was not at fault for leaving him behind. His desire for vengeance had not eased, but his aim had shifted. The lazy no-good idiot of a father was the cause of all Ranma's problems, and by extension, Ryouga's as well. He could not seek his vengeance right now, though.
Ranma was out there somewhere, alone, and cursed to turn into a girl. Ryouga had heard Genma's vitriolic attacks on Ranma, and how often Genma cursed Ranma as a weak, pathetic girl. He had seen, and himself taken advantage of, how readily that particular insult could drive Ranma to defensive action, so he could only imagine how poorly Ranma must be taking this.
His current dilemma was yet worse. He needed to find Ranma, to track him, and that meant his wolf form, and yet, he needed his supplies. He could not bear to just leave his pack, and all his worldly possessions, behind, which meant traveling as a human.
He had been sitting there, staring at the backpack for nearly fifteen minutes, and he growled angrily as he realized he was getting a headache. He leaned back his head and shouted to the sky. "Saotome Genma, this is all your fault!"
Still muttering imprecations and curses, he hefted the pack, strapping it to his back. He had managed to get to this accursed valley shortly after Ranma. He would simply have to trust that his luck would hold, and he'd manage to reach Ranma before Ranma cracked under the strain.
Grumbling and cursing Genma, he stalked from the valley. He was headed at first in the direction of the Amazon village. Luckily for his health and sanity, he got turned around, heading for a while towards the Musk, before finally wandering off in the direction of Japan.
---
The two massive humanoid felines paused in their play, when the larger held up a staying hand. He sniffed deeply, turning slowly, trying to find again that scent that had momentarily teased his memory. "Genma," he hissed and signalled Ranko. Both dropped their transformations as one, then dropped the Neko-ken. The smoothness and timing of the move clearly showed the time they'd been spending on working as a team.
A quick gesture from Ranma sent Ranko leaping high into a tree, bouncing upwards to hang high above, watching, ready to leap in, but out of sight for the time.
Ranma waited a moment for her to get settled, then tossed first one, then the other backpack up to her. She caught them, and slicing through a wrist thick branch about two feet out from the trunk, she incinerated the remaining extent of the branch in a single burst of power, then hung the backpacks on the branch.
On the ground, Ranma winced at the flare of power, but had to admit that he wouldn't have felt the surge of power with his ki senses had he not been experienced with the feel of her magic. Still, he couldn't be sure what abilities his father had hidden from him.
Fey watched from afar, ready to step in at need, but thinking that this was a confrontation that Ranma needed.
The fat panda slowed in its approach, sensing that its prey had stopped. Soon the boy would be his again, his retirement assured. He looked back, snorting softly, but saw no sign of the wolf that had been dogging his trail for so long.
Just me and the boy, he thought, as he lumbered forward. Catching sight of his son standing waiting for him, he unslung his backpack. Reaching in it, he pulled out a thermos, and in moments was a man again. Stepping into the clearing, he growled at the boy. "Ranma! You lazy, good-for-nothing excuse of a son! Why didn't you wait at Jusenkyou for me to steal you back?"
"Are you stupid as well as fat and lazy?" retorted Ranma, circling slowly. "You started your stupid Crouching Tiger technique at the mere sight of him. Why should I believe you would have come back for me?"
"I'm here now, boy," snarled Genma, irritated by his son's impertinence. "Now come on, we're behind schedule. We've got to get back to Japan." Seeing that the boy wasn't responding, Genma pulled out his ace. "Or don't you want to see your mother, boy?"
"You lie, old man," growled Ranma, "you have no intention of taking me to my mother, only so that we can both commit seppukuu. You hold your skin too dear to honor such a vow!"
Genma paled. How the hell had the boy learned of the pledge? "You're coming back with me, boy, whether you like it or not! You are my son!"
"Your son," snorted Ranma in disgust, "whom you sold as a daughter. You make me sick, old man!"
Genma was a bit unnerved. This was not how he'd pictured this going. He'd done everything possible to ensure that the boy had nowhere else to turn, that he'd be dependent on his father forever. All that work could not be so quickly unraveled, even by a man with wings.
Genma looked at the open thermos in his hand. Was there enough left? It had had time to cool, with the thermos open... Dashing forward, Genma splashed Ranma, and danced back. "Are you a girl or a man?" Genma demanded, "Have you no honor?"
Ranma chuckling low in his throat was not the response Genma expected, and he started when he realized that Ranma had not changed. Damn, it hadn't been enough.
"Do I look like a girl to you, old man? Perhaps you should have your eyes checked," Ranma suggested, smirking confidently at the old man. His eyes flicked for a moment past the old man, spying movement just beyond the trees, something dark and low to the ground.
Genma seized the opportunity, fueled by his anger at the failure of his ploy, and the teasing words of his son. When he noticed Ranma's attention falter, he leapt to the attack, driving a flying kick into Ranma's chest. Ranma flew backwards, crashing into the trunk of a tree.
Ryouga snarled, seeing Ranma attacked by his bastard of a father. Ryouga had been hit by rain shortly after noticing Ranma's father, forcing him to abandon his pack to be able to keep the man turned panda in sight. He had guessed correctly, the man had been seeking his son, and now he had led Ryouga to Ranma.
Ryouga trotted forward, psyching himself up to attack Genma, who he was sure was a better martial artist than himself, particularly in this form. Still, he owed it to his friend to help him stay free of the clutches of Genma. Also, he wanted to warn his friend. He had heard some of Genma's plans, as the old fool had gloated to himself about his retirement and Ranma's approaching bondage.
Ryouga and Genma were both startled when Ranma laughed aloud as he stood from where he'd fallen, looking not the least bit hurt. "You'll have to do better than that, old man."
Ranma had discussed this possibility with Ranko some time ago. The plan he'd come up with had included two primary facts as its basis. First, whatever Genma was planning would be useless if Ranma was dead, so he wouldn't use killing attacks. Second, Fey had a vested interest in the fight, so he'd likely prevent it from going too far. Third, Ranko had sufficient healing magic, not to mention Ranma's increased healing to begin with, to allow him to take far more punishment than Genma would expect. With those thoughts in mind, Ranma saw this as the perfect opportunity to push his old man. He knew there would be techniques that Genma had held back from teaching him, so that he would have something to keep him in line. Ranma was determined to force Genma to use them. They were, he felt, all that he had left to learn from Genma, and this was the only way he would ever learn them.
"You're getting weak, old man, you hit like a girl!" taunted Ranma, wearing his over-confident smirk again, the one that irritated Ryouga so effectively. It worked just as well on Genma, who attacked again in a flurry of blows.
This time, Ranma was ready for the assault, and met him head-on. Ryouga watched in surprise as the two bounded around the clearing, Ranma clearly blocking every punch and kick Genma threw, the taunts never slowing. Finally, Ranma slipped through Genma's defenses, getting in a solid kick to the larger man's sternum, catapaulting Genma to the ground while gaining greater height for himself.
Genma gasped in the breath that had been driven from his lungs as he stood. Hearing Ranma's taunts falling ever faster, he roared in anger. "I'll show you!" I sealed these techniques for a good reason, but I have to have the boy. I can't let him get away, not after all this time, all the work I've put into him. It's merely a testament to my prowess as an instructor that I need these techniques to subdue him, that's all.
Genma waited until Ranma had landed near him, before shouting out "Don't move!" Ranma was quite startled to discover that in spite of his intentions, he could not move. This time, the blow that hit him slammed him into a tree so hard that it snapped with an echoing crack. For a moment, just a moment, Genma and Ranma both feared that his spine had been snapped. When the tree fell and Ranma dropped back into a ready stance, they both breathed sighs of relief, though Ranma's was tempered by pain.
Genma grinned in his head, seeing the signs of the pain Ranma was feeling. It would not be long before his son succumbed. Ranma knew nothing capable of defending against the Saotome Forbidden techniques, of that Genma was certain.
With a loud cry of "Kijin Raishu Dan," Genma sent several vacuum blades hurtling towards his son. He aimed carefully, to be sure that his son would have time to avoid them. They were not meant to injure him, merely to distract him, as Genma invoked the Goshin Dai Ryu Sei Fu, the Body-Defense Shooting Star Cloth, becoming the next thing to invisible, even to ki senses.
Seeing that his father had stepped up to attacks that he had never seen, Ranma embraced the Neko-ken, welcoming the enhanced senses and reflexes. He did his best to keep from letting the cat show in his stance and movements as he dodged the vacuum blades with a single leap that sent him fifty feet into the air.
As he dropped back to ground level, he was hit with a hard blow to the back sending him sprawling. He managed to avoid an unseen blow that dented the ground by rolling to the side. He kipped to his feet, eyes narrowed, as he sought to sense the invisible martial artist before he struck again. He failed, taking a hard blow to the chest that sent his breath rushing from his lungs. He dropped to his knees, and immediately sprang forward, barely avoiding the leg he heard slam into the ground.
High above Ranko watched nervously. She had not been expecting Ranma's father to have such a devastating technique and could hardly restrain herself from joining in the fight. Ranma had spoken to her though and the intensity of his desire to face his father alone had been clear. He had promised to signal her if Genma proved too much to defeat, so she had to have faith in him.
Ryouga snarled in his fury, depression welling up within him. He was useless, unable to help the one person who had truly befriended him in his life, the person he'd come to depend on so much that he took his very leaving as a betrayal, only to learn that that heinous act was directly attributable to Genma, foul scum that he was. Now he was helpless to aid his friend, for in the short time they had fought, Ryouga had been reluctantly forced to concede in his own mind that Ranma and Genma were both beyond his skills.
He would have joined in anyway and desperately wanted to, but after Genma had vanished, Ryouga's depression had grown tenfold, as he realized that no matter how much he desired to aid Ranma in this fight, there was nothing he could do to help Ranma fight an opponent neither of them could sense.
He whined in sympathy when Ranma was again sent flying courtesy of a powerful but unseen kick.
Ranma groaned as he stepped away from the tree but shook off the pain, leaping quickly before the imminent strike could hit. The tree shuddered behind him and leaves drifted down from it in a slow shower. Ranma rebounded from another tree, a slow smirk forming on his face. He'd taken a number of very painful hits, but he'd finally found the flaw in Genma's techniques.
Genma could barely contain his warring shock, pride, and anger when Ranma deftly avoided his next powerful kick. Genma's follow-up strike was easily evaded, as Genma had taken to ignoring his defense, and focusing all his power in his strikes, knowing that Ranma could not avoid him. He was completely open to Ranma's fists as Ranma slipped past his punch, getting within his guard, and pounded mercilessly on his chest. Ranma didn't hold back the force of his blows either, now that his father was going all out; Genma felt as if he was being beaten with a sledgehammer. "Kami, when did the boy get so strong?" he groused mentally with a heartfelt groan, as he leapt backward, dropping the now useless Umisenken technique.
Even as he landed he shot off another pair of vacuum blades then rolled to the side before leaping at Ranma, aiming for about ten feet above his position at the beginning of the move, expecting him to leap to avoid the vacuum blades. He was correct in his prediction, but not in his judgement. Ranma leapt nearly thirty-five feet straight up and was in a perfect position to drive a hard kick into Genma's back as he passed beneath, driving the larger man into the ground.
Ranma landed lightly nearby, the bruises of Genma's attacks already fading. He stood tensed, poised on the balls of his feet, as Genma rose unsteadily. Genma had recovered as quickly as he could from his son's sledgehammer blows but still failed to regain the upper hand and when Ranma began to taunt him for his slow rise, his anger crescendoed.
With an angry growl, Genma threw several vacuum blades as a diversion, coming barreling in behind them. Ranma's smirk widened, angering Genma still further. That was not the reason for Ranma's mirth however. He was ecstatic at having figured out the secret to another of Genma's moves and as Genma charged, Ranma leapt backwards and up, landing on the side of a tree, even as he threw three vacuum attacks. His blades scythed the air, causing loud explosions where they hit his father's blades, each pair of blades detonating its store of ki.
Genma, having raced forward, was caught between the explosions and while he was not noticeably harmed, he was visibly reeling from the proximity of the sudden and terribly loud sound so near to his head.
Ranma took advantage of Genma's momentary distraction to leap forward and employ a ki-filled kick in mimic of Genma's first unsealed attack, sending Genma flying backwards to slam into a tree.
When Genma arose, his face had firmed, his mouth thinned; he recognized his error in allowing his son to anger him. Now he fought with cold determination, intent on beating his son. He was so intent on his son, and the attacks he was making, that he never consciously realized that his son was picking up his sealed techniques nearly as fast as Genma himself employed them.
Ryouga, watching from a distance through color-blind eyes, did not miss the startling speed with which Ranma was adapting his father's attacks. He rarely took more than five hits from a given technique before successfully evading or countering the move, and generally managed to use it effectively in retaliation in under fifteen minutes.
Genma continued pounding the Saotome Forbidden Techniques into his son, until Ranma succeeded in his third attempt at the Goshin Dai Ryu Sei Fu. Genma had created the two schools of techniques and was their master, but he had never had reason to create a counter or defense against the invisibility technique, and the pounding he received forced the realization that not only had he in his foolishness unsealed the forbidden techniques, he had just taught them to his son. It seemed unbelievable to him that anyone could master the techniques so quickly, particularly considering how painful and dangerous his training techniques for them were. The main focus of his anger, though, was not at the unsealing of the techniques, but at the loss of his one trump card.
He had never really wanted to kill his son, which was the likeliest result of using the Saotome Forbidden Techniques, and had intended, when thinking clearly, to use the techniques as a lure to draw his son back to him, promising to teach them in return for obedience. Instead, he had taught them to his son while failing to bring his son back under control. Realization of his loss set in, and the broken man began wailing about his loss of honor, and his son's lack thereof, when Ranma interrupted him.
"Ah, shut up, old man! What do you know of honor? I can't come back with you, you signed that contract, you sold me to that winged guy! I ain't got no choice, my honor says I gotta do what he says now. It's your own damn fault, old man!"
"But surely you knew I would be coming for you," protested Genma. "I've sold you before," he continued, ignoring how foolish it was to point out his numerous betrayals when trying to entice his son to return with him.
"You idiot," retorted Ranma, "you may be able to cheat everyone else you come across, but you can't cheat the kami!"
"K..k..kami?" spluttered Genma, "but, but he..."
"What did you think he was, you idiot? A man shows up glowing like the sun, with white wings and an aura of power even I could feel, and you think he's just another chump martial artist?"
As Ranma spoke, Ranko, cloaked in a concealment spell, was dropping steadily down the tree behind Genma. When Ranma nodded to her, she fired a spell at the lazy excuse for a martial artist that slammed into him from below with tremendous force, sending him sailing into the sky.
Ryouga's eyes widened as he stared at the beautiful girl who appeared suddenly, standing by his one-time friend. Where had she come from?
Ranma sighed as he rubbed his sore chest.
Ranko grinned at him, and poked his chest, eliciting a grimace. "So, was it worth it?"
"Heck yeah," retorted Ranma, "it was worth it just for the null aura thing or those blades alone, either one. Together, and with the ki powered kicks and punching techniques, and the other things I picked up, we're in a lot better position to face whatever is coming. Those blades can be made to cut as effectively as our claws, I think, and they're projectiles, which is a nice flexibility to have."
Ranko nodded, conceding to his judgement. "You took a bit of a beating there a couple of times. I really wanted to jump in once or twice."
Ranma grinned saucily and seemed about to retort with an arrogant comment, when he visibly caught himself. "Well, I, uh, I... appreciate that you didn't. Thanks for letting me deal with him, Ranko. Not that I couldn't take him any day of the week, but this way, he still don't know about you or nothing."
Ranko sighed as Ranma's ego affixed a self-serving defense to his appreciation, but recognized the achievement she'd made in getting him to the stage of being able to express appreciation in the first place. That didn't mean she wasn't going to keep working on his humility, though.
Ryouga loped into the somewhat battered clearing. He would have far preferred being human for this meeting, but he was afraid that if he took the time to find hot water, he would never find Ranma again. Besides, he had already lost his pack and clothes, and would likely have to travel in wolf form anyway, at least until he could obtain new clothing. All he had to do was somehow convince Ranma to let a strange wolf follow him and not just attack it. Ryouga's ears drooped as his usual depression grew. How on earth was he supposed to communicate with Ranma?
Ranma walked over to where Ranko had dropped his pack on her way down. He had just picked it up when he was startled by a short bark. Spinning to face the sound, Ranma saw a large black-furred wolf. Glancing Ranko's way, he saw no sign of her. A quick upward glance confirmed that she had taken to the trees.
Setting his pack back down, Ranma moved slowly back. He found he was having to fight a nervousness coming from the cat spirit in him, as he was still embracing the Neko-ken. In spite of the fact that he and the cat-spirit combined were more akin in power to a tiger than a house-cat, the spirit itself was that of a small cat and could not remain sanguine in the presence of the massive canine.
Ranma's will was stronger than the cat's fear and he did not flee. Instead, he sidestepped slowly until he was well positioned to dive in any direction if the wolf attacked. Keeping half an eye on the wolf, he scanned the surroundings, looking for the rest of the pack. Ranma knew little enough about wolves; less, probably, than anyone who'd ever watched a nature special about them. He did have some personal experience with them though, for he and his father had encountered them a time or two, and his father had imparted his limited store of knowledge regarding them.
"Ranko," he called out, "do you see the others?"
"No," she called back down, "that one is the only one I see," after examining the surrounding area. She was a bit surprised that he had asked that, considering that he ought to be able to sense their ki signatures. It wasn't as if wolves could hide their ki; was there something unusual about this wolf that was making him paranoid? She looked closer at it and nearly fell out of the tree.
"One is enough!" she said, descending to get a closer look, "that wolf has an unusually large aura... and," she dropped to the ground beside Ranma, unsure if she should believe her senses, "an aura of magic too."
"Damn," muttered Ranma, holding his stance. "Just what we needed. Finally deal with Pop, now we got... wait a minute. Fey?" The last he spoke loud, directing the question to the wolf. Ryouga shook his head, careful to make no other move. He didn't need Ranma deciding he was a threat and attacking. After watching the fight between Ranma and Genma, Ryouga held no illusions about the inevitable result if Ranma attacked him while he was in this body. He didn't know how to fight as a wolf. He wondered what Fey was and why Ranma would think a wolf would respond to it.
Ranko's eyes lit up. "Jusenkyou?" she asked, staring into the wolf's black eyes. Ryouga thought back. Was that the name of the place he'd been? He couldn't really recall. He whined unhappily at his inability to give a satisfactory answer.
Ranma looked at the wolf in disgust. "Ah, hell, it was probably just shaking off fleas or something. It's just a wolf, it can't understand us."
Ranko sighed, noting the way the wolf's hackles raised at that comment. Ryouga was only barely able to hold himself in check. He badly wanted to attack Ranma for that comment but knew that doing so at this moment, in this form, would simply get him killed. So he settled for growling at Ranma.
Ranko looked into the wolf's eyes again. "If you understand me, bark twice." When Ryouga barked twice in response, she turned to face Ranma with an expectant look.
"All right, I'm sorry," Ranma said, holding up his hands. He glanced at the wolf again. "Fall in a spring?"
Ryouga barked. He didn't know who that girl was but he was very glad for her presence at the moment. Just as he had always been, Ranma was arrogant and impatient and unwilling to put effort into communicating. Without her, Ranma would have already left, Ryouga was certain.
"Ok, let's start with this," Ranko said, pleased that Ranma had admitted that he was wrong. He had still spoken without thinking first but admitting that he had erred instead of pridefully defending a statement made without thought was a vast improvement over his prior behavior.
"One bark means yes, two means no, three means you can't answer. All right?" Ryouga barked once in response.
"Did you fall in a spring? Were there a bunch of other springs around? Did they have bamboo sticking out of them?"
With Ranko's quick mind working on the problem, it was not long before they had established that the wolf was Japanese, had been human, was male, had fallen in Jusenkyou, and didn't want hot water at the moment because he had no clothing.
With no easy way of learning his name for the moment, Ranko offered the name Garou, which Ryouga happily accepted. It certainly fit, as he was a wolf, and having not eaten for several days since coming on Genma's trail, he was very hungry.
As soon as they had established the basics, Ranma insisted that they needed to head out. "I don't expect Genma to give up that easily," he said, frowning, "I want to be far from here when he returns. If we travel solely through the trees, he shouldn't be able to track us. He'll have no reason to connect Garou's prints to us."
Ryouga was annoyed that his hunger would not be soon assuaged but understood Ranma's plight and gave no complaint. Ranko had a suggestion though. "Ranma, he'll still have a pretty good idea where to find us, just on the basis of the direction we've been going. Why don't we head southwest for a while?"
Ranma thought about it for a minute as he slung his pack on his back then broke into a wide grin. "Sure, why not. Fey said to take our time and we've made pretty good time as it is."
A little over five hours later, they made camp at the base of a cliff that had slowly risen to their right as they had traveled. It had cut off their westerly trend but after several hours of traveling southwest with no obstructions, they hadn't been too worried about the shift in course.
Ranma had questioned whether they ought to take the low road and risk coming to a cliff face they'd have to climb. Ranko had pointed out that it was just as likely they'd have to climb down if they took the high road; more importantly, they were heading to the ocean and out of a mountain range so the ground should be sloping downward. Thus the lower way should keep them closer to the average ground level.
Ranma had not really understood the entirety of the discussion but had recognized that Ranko had valid reasons for taking the lower path even if he did not understand them. His own desire for the high road was more an impulse from his training, knowing that the higher ground was generally to be preferred in a fight, and he had to concede, even if only internally, that he was no longer certain how well his martial knowledge applied to real life situations. After all, Genma had drilled into him the concept that any activity could become training but did that really imply that martial arts training could handle any situation? He was no longer as sure of that as he had been when still with Genma.
As Ranko began to set up their tent, Ranma left to hunt down some food. Ryouga stayed in the camp, unable to effectively give aid to Ranko, yet not really certain of his ability to hunt in this form. It irritated him, since wolves were supposed to be great hunters; after all, they were natural predators. He was not aware that a wolf's instincts are pack-based, built for group hunting where joint tactics allow the hunting of larger prey than themselves. He was likewise unaware that wolves generally hunt the weakened or injured.
So he spent his time watching Ranko. The more he watched the more he wondered about her. Her movements were beautiful, so fluid and graceful yet somehow they persisted in reminding him of Ranma. He hated it, that watching this delicate beauty should remind him of his... friend. He wasn't that way! That wasn't why he was angry over Ranma leaving, it simply couldn't be, yet he could not deny that he saw Ranma in her.
He was startled when after collecting wood and building a fire, she lit it simply by pointing at it and saying something under her breath. She noted his surprise and grinned cheekily at him. She blew against her finger, as if blowing smoke from the barrel of a gun and said, "It's just magic, Garou. Just magic."
As she turned away to prepare the cooking utensils for whatever Ranma returned with, she realized that she had reacted as Ranma might have in that situation. Not only had she teased Garou, she had actually mimicked a movement she had never personally encountered, an action that could only be explained as coming from Ranma's memories. She shivered, wondering again how much of her original self remained. Was she becoming Ranma?
Ranma returned just a few minutes later, startling Ryouga yet again. He watched with wide eyes as Ranma unloaded three rabbits and two fat birds, not noticing the drool dripping from his mouth. Ranma quickly set to preparing the carcasses for spitting.
As he was skinning the third rabbit, he glanced at Ryouga. "Hey, Garou, I reckon given that you were human, you'd rather have the meat cooked, right?"
When Ryouga barked sharply in response then growled angrily, Ranma sighed. "I'm sorry, man. I wasn't teasing, really, I just wasn't sure if the change in form included a change in appetite. I didn't want to cook 'em all only to find out you can't eat it if it ain't raw."
Ryouga dropped his head to the ground glad for once for the thick fur that concealed his burning face. How shameful... after all that had happened, after finally admitting that Ranma was not at fault, that he had done his best to be a friend, here he was assuming the worst yet again, when Ranma was simply trying to help him.
Soon they had eaten and were preparing to sleep. Ryouga grew steadily more surprised as he watched Ranma setting up a single tent. He couldn't believe his eyes when Ranma followed Ranko into the tent. Sleeping together? Already? He was sure that Ranma couldn't have known the girl for longer than he himself had been a wolf; Genma would never have allowed it.
Had Ranma truly changed so much in so short a time? His ears were good enough that he was not misled into believing that more was happening than truly was but he still found it difficult to believe. Feeling lost and bewildered as the world changed around him, Ryouga settled into an uneasy sleep.
Fey watched the sleeping teenagers from a distance. He had been quite surprised when Ryouga met up with Ranma and Ranko and did not attack. He spent some time watching, thinking that perhaps Ryouga was waiting until the other two were asleep before attacking but he seemed to have merely gone to sleep himself.
"What changed?" he mused. "He hasn't got the same curse, true, but why would he have blamed Ranma for the pig curse and not blamed him for the wolf curse?"
"I wonder what will happen when Ranma finally learns who Garou is?"