Categories > Anime/Manga > Ranma 1/2 > A Werewolf in Nermia
Disclaimer: The characters of Ranma 1/2, of course, belong to Rumiko Takahashi (and lots of others). Sati Li, and any other strays that may appear, belong to me, unless otherwise noted.
A Werewolf in Nerima
By: USA Tiger
Chapter 2
"AUNTIE!" Ranma shouted, and jumping over to her, proceeded to give her an enthusiastic hug, much to the growing ire of Akane and the stunned shock of Nabiki.
The Tendo’s could only stare in stunned shock. Ranma Saotome, supposed man amongst men, a socially inept, gender-challenged, and overly-macho all-around insensitive jerk, who couldn't express his more tender emotions if his life depended on it, was hugging a girl, tightly, and grinning from ear to ear. Ranma hadn't even shown this much genuine affection to his own mother... not that he was actually able to considering he had to hide himself behind his curse whenever she appeared.
"D-did you just... hug her?... Voluntarily?" Nabiki asked, being the first to get over her initial shock.
"It's the hussy from that picture!" Akane snarled, with all of the subtlety of a herd of stampeding bull elephants, pointing her finger accusingly at Sati.
"What did you call me?" Sati growled softly, losing the smile she'd been wearing at Ranma's greeting, and turning to glare, narrow-eyed, at Akane.
Nabiki felt a shiver run up her spine, as she detected an almost bestial undertone to Sati's question. Human vocal chords shouldn't be capable of producing such menacing tones, but... Sati had done so. Naturally, Akane missed it entirely.
"A Hussy! Just like all the other girls that pervert lets hang all over him!" Akane stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So let me guess, you're another one of the Pervert's fiancées, right?"
"Actually, she's not a fiancée of Ranma's, Akane," Kasumi replied as she entered the room. "However, she has asked to stay with us for a time, and will be staying in the room beneath the stairs."
"We can't afford another houseguest, Kasumi!" Nabiki said in protest, being the only one in the house fully aware of just how fragile their financial situation truly was.
"You must be Nabiki," Sati stated. "Don't worry about the bills increasing, I can pay my own way, and even help out around here, if needed."
"I don't trust her!" Akane snapped, never letting up on her glare. "And I don't want her staying in this house!"
"And you must be Akane," Sati said, returning her gaze to the scowling tomboy and smirking slightly. "Ranma's frequently mentioned you in his letters, but... while I'll agree with him that you're kind of cute, that extreme possessive streak, jealousy, and violent temper is a definite turn-off."
"I am not possessive, I am not jealous of that perverted jerk, and there's nothing wrong with MY TEMPER!" Akane snarled, fairly screaming the final words, her face flushed with rage proving her statements a lie.
Nabiki simply arched an eyebrow at Akane's outburst, while Kasumi uncharacteristically rolled her eyes heavenward as if seeking divine aide.
"I thought you said she was a martial artist and Soun's heir?" Sati asked, looking at Ranma. "I can see that she has some potential, but her lack of control and violent temper makes her nothing more than a Brawler, not a Martial Artist."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?" Akane screeched indignantly. "I'll have you know that I'm the best martial artist in Nerima, and I can take you on anytime!"
It was Sati's turn to arch an eyebrow, before slowly getting to her feet and bowing, mockingly, a smirk on her face. "Shall we test that theory in the dojo, Cub? I'll even give you some time to change into more suitable clothing, if you like."
"Dojo! Ten-minutes! If you're not afraid, that is!" Akane snarled, before storming up to her room to change into her gi, while everyone else made their way out to the dojo.
***
"Alright Saotome, what's going on?" Nabiki asked, pulling Ranma aside once they were all in the dojo and waiting on Akane. "I know for a fact, that you don't have an aunt, on either side of your family! So who is she, what's she doing here, and how badly is Akane going to get her ass handed to her?"
"Her name's Li Sati," Ranma replied, never taking his eyes off of Sati as she did some stretching exercises. "We're not related by blood, but... she took care of me after the... n-neko-ken training and... I just started calling her that and it stuck. I don't know why she's here, but I'm glad she is. And... I've never beaten her in a sparring match... yet! She won't hurt Akane, much. Probably just bruise her up a bit, as some kind of object lesson."
Nabiki just stared at Ranma, as Akane, now dressed in her gi, stormed into the dojo. ‘He willingly admitted that that girl could beat [/him! Mr. Macho-Man himself, Mr. Never-admit-defeat, Mr. Do-or-die, Mr. Saotome Ranma-doesn't-lose, just admitted that a girl was better than him! And Akane doesn't have a clue as to just how deeply she's stepped into it.’/]
"After I've won our fight," Akane growled, moving to take up a position opposite Sati in the center of the dojo, "you'll leave Nerima and forget all about Ranma!"
"My, oh my! Confident, aren't ya, Cub," Sati chuckled, assuming a relaxed position with her hands upon her hips. "However, you seem to be making a false assumption, this is a sparring match intended for you to show your skills as a martial artist... not a challenge match, or duel. And it has nothing to do with Ranma. This is about your credibility as a martial artist, and your claim of being the best."
"Then I challenge you!" Akane barked.
"Challenge refused," Sati calmly responded. "I'm not a practitioner of any style that stupidly requires that all challenges, no matter how idiotic, be accepted. You claimed to be a martial artist, and to be the best in Nerima, we're here for you to prove it. No more, no less. Now, Cub... put up, or shut up! Spar with me, or go back into the house! Your choice!"
"Fine, then!" Akane snarled, assuming her standard offensive stance. "And stop calling me Cub! Ready?"
"Whenever you are... Cub," Sati replied with a grin.
Akane let go with an inarticulate snarl and swung at Sati's grinning face who merely moved aside, grabbed Akane's now overextended arm, and flipped her over on to her back. Akane landed on the floor hard, having the air forced from her lungs, and it took her a few moments for her to recover.
"I wasn't ready!" Akane growled when she finally rose back onto her feet.
"You attacked first, y'know. Wanna try again?" Sati asked, raising an eyebrow enquiringly.
For the first time, Akane noticed the unusual color of Sati's eyes, and felt a slight shiver of unease pass through her body from looking into them. She'd seen eyes that color before, the color of a pale moon, but that had been on a school trip to the Tokyo Zoo, and the eyes had belonged to a wolf that had stared at her, as if she were its next meal. Shaking away the sense of unease, Akane resumed her ready stance, and they resumed sparring, but with Akane being a bit more cautious.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Nabiki was trying to get more information out of Ranma.
"What's with the Cub bit, Saotome?" Nabiki asked, curious. "And are you certain your Auntie won't seriously injure Akane?"
Ranma turned to look at Nabiki for a moment, his gaze seeming to weigh her somehow, before turning back to watch the sparring match. "If Auntie wants you to know about it, you'll find out what she means by cub, Nabiki. It's not my place to say. And as for injuring Akane... If Akane's seriously injured, it'll be her own doing. All Auntie's doing is redirecting Akane's own attacks, Auntie has yet to even attempt a single attack."
Nabiki, herself, had noted the same thing, recognizing most of Sati's techniques as being either simple judo, or aikido, throws or blocks. Techniques which Akane should have recognized and adapted for long ago. Even so, it was several more minutes of wasted punches and kicks, not to mention a lot of wasted energy, before Akane seemed to finally catch on and back off, trading her offensive stance for a defensive one.
"My turn, huh?" Sati asked, smirking. "Your offense isn't all that bad, really, if you're up against the usual run-of-the-mill martial artists. But, you'll need to increase your skill, speed, control, and stamina, if you want to compete in the major leagues, Cub!"
"Are you all talk," Akane growled, breathing heavily from the effort she'd already put into their match, "or are you actually capable of doing more than dodging and running away?"
"Object lesson, Cub," Sati said, her voice losing all trace of humor. "Never ask a question, if you're not prepared to learn the answer. I hope you're ready?"
"Bring it on, you hussy!"
Sati blurred forward, and the sound of flesh striking flesh was heard in the dojo, as she pounded on Akane. And try as she might, Akane just couldn't seem to block or dodge even one of Sati's attacks. Finally, in a move of desperation, Akane lunged forward at her top speed in an obvious attempt to grapple with her, but Sati just... stepped aside, and Akane ran headlong into the dojo wall.
THWACK
For just a moment, Akane remained absolutely motionless against the wall, before slowly falling backward like a felled tree to collapse onto the floor with a loud groan. (1)
"I believe I won our little match," Sati stated as she motioned the concerned Kasumi over. Then she turned to face Ranma. "What about it, Cub? Care to spar with this old woman?"
"I've improved a lot, since we last sparred, Auntie!" Ranma said, grinning broadly as he moved out to the center of the dojo.
"Less talk, more action, Cub!" Sati responded, returning his smile and taking an obviously more serious stance than the one she'd taken with Akane.
"She cheated!" Akane was heard saying, as Kasumi helped her over to sit near Soun and Genma. No one chose to respond to her comment, however, as they waited to see how Ranma fared against Sati.
For several long seconds neither moved, and then, at some unspoken command, Sati and Ranma leapt at each other becoming blurs of motion. Ranma a red blur, because of his red blouse, and Sati a black one, due to her black clothing. Maybe Soun and Genma could see what was happening, but for the others the match was nothing but the two blurs bouncing about the inside of the dojo and the sounds of flesh meeting flesh, with only a clear glance of either combatant when they paused long enough to change direction.
"What the..." Nabiki gasped, as she caught a glimpse of Sati when she rebounded off of the far wall, but... Sati had looked... "No way!"
"What? What is it?" Akane asked.
Nabiki didn't answer, just continued to concentrate her attention on the blurred form of Sati, as a new sound was heard... metal on metal, in addition to flesh on flesh. Then just as suddenly as they'd started, both Ranma and Sati stopped, only...
"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped, wide-eyed.
"That... is an understatement, Sis," Nabiki dryly.
"It's a demon!" Akane yelped, jumping to her feet.
"No... that, Akane, is a Werewolf!" Nabiki corrected.
Meanwhile, near the center of the dojo, Ranma was struggling to hold back the katana trapped between the palms of his hands as Sati, now in her hybrid-form, attempted to press forward her attack. Ranma managed to twist to the side, but was forced to release his entrapment of Sati's blade in doing so, and this time the girls saw him block the return blow upon the felt bracer of his right arm. To their surprise, sparks appeared at the contact.
‘So, not so dumb after all, eh Saotome?’ Nabiki thought, realizing that the bracers Ranma habitually wore were actually pieces of felt-covered chain-mail.
"Not bad, Cub! Not bad, at all!" Sati said, causing her katana to simply vanish into thin air. "But I hope that's not all you've got to show me?"
"Oh, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve, Auntie!" Ranma chuckled, cupping his hands down near his side and a glowing blue ball of chi suddenly appeared, which he rapidly hurled at her with a cry of, "MOKO TAKABISHA!"
"MOON CLAW SLASH!" Sati cried in return, slashing her right hand before her and releasing what appeared to be a silvery-white crescent-shaped chi-blast of her own, which sliced through Ranma's, diverting it to the sides and away from her, before slamming into Ranma's chest and sending him to crash against the dojo wall, stunned. You could have heard a pin drop, as everyone stared in shock. "You have improved, Cub, if you've learned to throw chi-blasts around. But, you're still not up to my level... yet."
***
Later, after everyone had been assured that Sati wasn't a demon intent on consuming their souls, as Akane vehemently maintained, and after Ranma and Akane had bathed, both having worked up a sweat during their matches with Sati, they all sat down to enjoy a fairly quiet dinner and to talk. Things were a little awkward though, as the Tendo’s were still coming to terms with their newest houseguest's unusual nature.
"How long have you been a werewolf?" Nabiki asked, struggling to maintain her usual mask of casual indifference.
"All my life," Sati replied, amused at the girl's obvious attempts to hide her intense curiosity.
"You were born like that? I thought that you had to be bitten by another werewolf in order to become one?" Nabiki asked, wondering what other supposed beliefs concerning such creatures were wrong.
"Only the cursed kind. My kind has to be passed through the genes," Sati explained. "If you'd like, I can explain it in more detail later, but I see no reason to bore the others at the moment."
"Okay, but I'm going to hold you to that," Nabiki agreed, then thought of her next question. "How did you meet the Saotome’s?"
"I met Ranma first, when he climbed into my lap, acting like a cat. Someone had just put him through the Neko-ken training," Sati stated, not needing to indicate just who that someone happened to be. Still, the girls all blinked as they made another connection to the tale they'd been told of the Neko-ken training.
"Mr. Saotome told us that it was an old woman that snapped Ranma out of the Neko-ken the first time," Akane said, questioningly.
Sati just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Technically, I am an old woman."
"So how old are you?" Akane asked, bluntly.
"Oh, around a couple of thousand years or so, I'd guess," Sati replied, as she seemed to give the question a little thought.
"Thousand?!?" Nabiki choked out, having nearly inhaled a lungful of her tea when Sati had responded to Akane's question.
"Somewhere around there," Sati agreed. "After a time, you tend not to keep track anymore, as it can get a little depressing if you dwell on it."
"Bwee!"
"P-chan!" Akane cried out, as she leaped over the table to scoop up the little black piglet that had appeared on the porch and held him tightly to her bosom.
For once, Ranma was in too good of a mood to say anything insulting and simply groaned, rolling his eyes, as Akane fussed over her wayward pet. Sati, having been informed about the truth concerning the little porker through Ranma's letters, just softly chuckled to herself over the situation.
"SWEETO!"
The entire household went dead-silent at that terrifying cry, and began to go pale when they located the source of it nestled happily within Sati's bosom. And they began to edge away from the pair as Sati shifted back to her hybrid-form, her large triangular ears laying back flush against her skull and her lips pulling up, rising in a grimacing snarl, to expose a large assortment of very impressive teeth, followed by a rumbling growl.
"Happosai! If you don't let go, this instant... you will be in a world of pain!" Sati growled menacingly, her amber eyes flashing.
****
Edit 1-11-14 Author Note: After so many years after working on this story I have come to realize just how silly it is to have Sati in her millions so I have retcon it so she is only about a thousand years or two. Before the edit I said she was 6 million years old in case new readers are wondering.
Edit 5-4-14: Changed the format and patched up things here and there. Nothing much changed.
(1) Timber!
A Werewolf in Nerima
By: USA Tiger
Chapter 2
"AUNTIE!" Ranma shouted, and jumping over to her, proceeded to give her an enthusiastic hug, much to the growing ire of Akane and the stunned shock of Nabiki.
The Tendo’s could only stare in stunned shock. Ranma Saotome, supposed man amongst men, a socially inept, gender-challenged, and overly-macho all-around insensitive jerk, who couldn't express his more tender emotions if his life depended on it, was hugging a girl, tightly, and grinning from ear to ear. Ranma hadn't even shown this much genuine affection to his own mother... not that he was actually able to considering he had to hide himself behind his curse whenever she appeared.
"D-did you just... hug her?... Voluntarily?" Nabiki asked, being the first to get over her initial shock.
"It's the hussy from that picture!" Akane snarled, with all of the subtlety of a herd of stampeding bull elephants, pointing her finger accusingly at Sati.
"What did you call me?" Sati growled softly, losing the smile she'd been wearing at Ranma's greeting, and turning to glare, narrow-eyed, at Akane.
Nabiki felt a shiver run up her spine, as she detected an almost bestial undertone to Sati's question. Human vocal chords shouldn't be capable of producing such menacing tones, but... Sati had done so. Naturally, Akane missed it entirely.
"A Hussy! Just like all the other girls that pervert lets hang all over him!" Akane stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So let me guess, you're another one of the Pervert's fiancées, right?"
"Actually, she's not a fiancée of Ranma's, Akane," Kasumi replied as she entered the room. "However, she has asked to stay with us for a time, and will be staying in the room beneath the stairs."
"We can't afford another houseguest, Kasumi!" Nabiki said in protest, being the only one in the house fully aware of just how fragile their financial situation truly was.
"You must be Nabiki," Sati stated. "Don't worry about the bills increasing, I can pay my own way, and even help out around here, if needed."
"I don't trust her!" Akane snapped, never letting up on her glare. "And I don't want her staying in this house!"
"And you must be Akane," Sati said, returning her gaze to the scowling tomboy and smirking slightly. "Ranma's frequently mentioned you in his letters, but... while I'll agree with him that you're kind of cute, that extreme possessive streak, jealousy, and violent temper is a definite turn-off."
"I am not possessive, I am not jealous of that perverted jerk, and there's nothing wrong with MY TEMPER!" Akane snarled, fairly screaming the final words, her face flushed with rage proving her statements a lie.
Nabiki simply arched an eyebrow at Akane's outburst, while Kasumi uncharacteristically rolled her eyes heavenward as if seeking divine aide.
"I thought you said she was a martial artist and Soun's heir?" Sati asked, looking at Ranma. "I can see that she has some potential, but her lack of control and violent temper makes her nothing more than a Brawler, not a Martial Artist."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?" Akane screeched indignantly. "I'll have you know that I'm the best martial artist in Nerima, and I can take you on anytime!"
It was Sati's turn to arch an eyebrow, before slowly getting to her feet and bowing, mockingly, a smirk on her face. "Shall we test that theory in the dojo, Cub? I'll even give you some time to change into more suitable clothing, if you like."
"Dojo! Ten-minutes! If you're not afraid, that is!" Akane snarled, before storming up to her room to change into her gi, while everyone else made their way out to the dojo.
***
"Alright Saotome, what's going on?" Nabiki asked, pulling Ranma aside once they were all in the dojo and waiting on Akane. "I know for a fact, that you don't have an aunt, on either side of your family! So who is she, what's she doing here, and how badly is Akane going to get her ass handed to her?"
"Her name's Li Sati," Ranma replied, never taking his eyes off of Sati as she did some stretching exercises. "We're not related by blood, but... she took care of me after the... n-neko-ken training and... I just started calling her that and it stuck. I don't know why she's here, but I'm glad she is. And... I've never beaten her in a sparring match... yet! She won't hurt Akane, much. Probably just bruise her up a bit, as some kind of object lesson."
Nabiki just stared at Ranma, as Akane, now dressed in her gi, stormed into the dojo. ‘He willingly admitted that that girl could beat [/him! Mr. Macho-Man himself, Mr. Never-admit-defeat, Mr. Do-or-die, Mr. Saotome Ranma-doesn't-lose, just admitted that a girl was better than him! And Akane doesn't have a clue as to just how deeply she's stepped into it.’/]
"After I've won our fight," Akane growled, moving to take up a position opposite Sati in the center of the dojo, "you'll leave Nerima and forget all about Ranma!"
"My, oh my! Confident, aren't ya, Cub," Sati chuckled, assuming a relaxed position with her hands upon her hips. "However, you seem to be making a false assumption, this is a sparring match intended for you to show your skills as a martial artist... not a challenge match, or duel. And it has nothing to do with Ranma. This is about your credibility as a martial artist, and your claim of being the best."
"Then I challenge you!" Akane barked.
"Challenge refused," Sati calmly responded. "I'm not a practitioner of any style that stupidly requires that all challenges, no matter how idiotic, be accepted. You claimed to be a martial artist, and to be the best in Nerima, we're here for you to prove it. No more, no less. Now, Cub... put up, or shut up! Spar with me, or go back into the house! Your choice!"
"Fine, then!" Akane snarled, assuming her standard offensive stance. "And stop calling me Cub! Ready?"
"Whenever you are... Cub," Sati replied with a grin.
Akane let go with an inarticulate snarl and swung at Sati's grinning face who merely moved aside, grabbed Akane's now overextended arm, and flipped her over on to her back. Akane landed on the floor hard, having the air forced from her lungs, and it took her a few moments for her to recover.
"I wasn't ready!" Akane growled when she finally rose back onto her feet.
"You attacked first, y'know. Wanna try again?" Sati asked, raising an eyebrow enquiringly.
For the first time, Akane noticed the unusual color of Sati's eyes, and felt a slight shiver of unease pass through her body from looking into them. She'd seen eyes that color before, the color of a pale moon, but that had been on a school trip to the Tokyo Zoo, and the eyes had belonged to a wolf that had stared at her, as if she were its next meal. Shaking away the sense of unease, Akane resumed her ready stance, and they resumed sparring, but with Akane being a bit more cautious.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Nabiki was trying to get more information out of Ranma.
"What's with the Cub bit, Saotome?" Nabiki asked, curious. "And are you certain your Auntie won't seriously injure Akane?"
Ranma turned to look at Nabiki for a moment, his gaze seeming to weigh her somehow, before turning back to watch the sparring match. "If Auntie wants you to know about it, you'll find out what she means by cub, Nabiki. It's not my place to say. And as for injuring Akane... If Akane's seriously injured, it'll be her own doing. All Auntie's doing is redirecting Akane's own attacks, Auntie has yet to even attempt a single attack."
Nabiki, herself, had noted the same thing, recognizing most of Sati's techniques as being either simple judo, or aikido, throws or blocks. Techniques which Akane should have recognized and adapted for long ago. Even so, it was several more minutes of wasted punches and kicks, not to mention a lot of wasted energy, before Akane seemed to finally catch on and back off, trading her offensive stance for a defensive one.
"My turn, huh?" Sati asked, smirking. "Your offense isn't all that bad, really, if you're up against the usual run-of-the-mill martial artists. But, you'll need to increase your skill, speed, control, and stamina, if you want to compete in the major leagues, Cub!"
"Are you all talk," Akane growled, breathing heavily from the effort she'd already put into their match, "or are you actually capable of doing more than dodging and running away?"
"Object lesson, Cub," Sati said, her voice losing all trace of humor. "Never ask a question, if you're not prepared to learn the answer. I hope you're ready?"
"Bring it on, you hussy!"
Sati blurred forward, and the sound of flesh striking flesh was heard in the dojo, as she pounded on Akane. And try as she might, Akane just couldn't seem to block or dodge even one of Sati's attacks. Finally, in a move of desperation, Akane lunged forward at her top speed in an obvious attempt to grapple with her, but Sati just... stepped aside, and Akane ran headlong into the dojo wall.
THWACK
For just a moment, Akane remained absolutely motionless against the wall, before slowly falling backward like a felled tree to collapse onto the floor with a loud groan. (1)
"I believe I won our little match," Sati stated as she motioned the concerned Kasumi over. Then she turned to face Ranma. "What about it, Cub? Care to spar with this old woman?"
"I've improved a lot, since we last sparred, Auntie!" Ranma said, grinning broadly as he moved out to the center of the dojo.
"Less talk, more action, Cub!" Sati responded, returning his smile and taking an obviously more serious stance than the one she'd taken with Akane.
"She cheated!" Akane was heard saying, as Kasumi helped her over to sit near Soun and Genma. No one chose to respond to her comment, however, as they waited to see how Ranma fared against Sati.
For several long seconds neither moved, and then, at some unspoken command, Sati and Ranma leapt at each other becoming blurs of motion. Ranma a red blur, because of his red blouse, and Sati a black one, due to her black clothing. Maybe Soun and Genma could see what was happening, but for the others the match was nothing but the two blurs bouncing about the inside of the dojo and the sounds of flesh meeting flesh, with only a clear glance of either combatant when they paused long enough to change direction.
"What the..." Nabiki gasped, as she caught a glimpse of Sati when she rebounded off of the far wall, but... Sati had looked... "No way!"
"What? What is it?" Akane asked.
Nabiki didn't answer, just continued to concentrate her attention on the blurred form of Sati, as a new sound was heard... metal on metal, in addition to flesh on flesh. Then just as suddenly as they'd started, both Ranma and Sati stopped, only...
"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped, wide-eyed.
"That... is an understatement, Sis," Nabiki dryly.
"It's a demon!" Akane yelped, jumping to her feet.
"No... that, Akane, is a Werewolf!" Nabiki corrected.
Meanwhile, near the center of the dojo, Ranma was struggling to hold back the katana trapped between the palms of his hands as Sati, now in her hybrid-form, attempted to press forward her attack. Ranma managed to twist to the side, but was forced to release his entrapment of Sati's blade in doing so, and this time the girls saw him block the return blow upon the felt bracer of his right arm. To their surprise, sparks appeared at the contact.
‘So, not so dumb after all, eh Saotome?’ Nabiki thought, realizing that the bracers Ranma habitually wore were actually pieces of felt-covered chain-mail.
"Not bad, Cub! Not bad, at all!" Sati said, causing her katana to simply vanish into thin air. "But I hope that's not all you've got to show me?"
"Oh, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve, Auntie!" Ranma chuckled, cupping his hands down near his side and a glowing blue ball of chi suddenly appeared, which he rapidly hurled at her with a cry of, "MOKO TAKABISHA!"
"MOON CLAW SLASH!" Sati cried in return, slashing her right hand before her and releasing what appeared to be a silvery-white crescent-shaped chi-blast of her own, which sliced through Ranma's, diverting it to the sides and away from her, before slamming into Ranma's chest and sending him to crash against the dojo wall, stunned. You could have heard a pin drop, as everyone stared in shock. "You have improved, Cub, if you've learned to throw chi-blasts around. But, you're still not up to my level... yet."
***
Later, after everyone had been assured that Sati wasn't a demon intent on consuming their souls, as Akane vehemently maintained, and after Ranma and Akane had bathed, both having worked up a sweat during their matches with Sati, they all sat down to enjoy a fairly quiet dinner and to talk. Things were a little awkward though, as the Tendo’s were still coming to terms with their newest houseguest's unusual nature.
"How long have you been a werewolf?" Nabiki asked, struggling to maintain her usual mask of casual indifference.
"All my life," Sati replied, amused at the girl's obvious attempts to hide her intense curiosity.
"You were born like that? I thought that you had to be bitten by another werewolf in order to become one?" Nabiki asked, wondering what other supposed beliefs concerning such creatures were wrong.
"Only the cursed kind. My kind has to be passed through the genes," Sati explained. "If you'd like, I can explain it in more detail later, but I see no reason to bore the others at the moment."
"Okay, but I'm going to hold you to that," Nabiki agreed, then thought of her next question. "How did you meet the Saotome’s?"
"I met Ranma first, when he climbed into my lap, acting like a cat. Someone had just put him through the Neko-ken training," Sati stated, not needing to indicate just who that someone happened to be. Still, the girls all blinked as they made another connection to the tale they'd been told of the Neko-ken training.
"Mr. Saotome told us that it was an old woman that snapped Ranma out of the Neko-ken the first time," Akane said, questioningly.
Sati just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Technically, I am an old woman."
"So how old are you?" Akane asked, bluntly.
"Oh, around a couple of thousand years or so, I'd guess," Sati replied, as she seemed to give the question a little thought.
"Thousand?!?" Nabiki choked out, having nearly inhaled a lungful of her tea when Sati had responded to Akane's question.
"Somewhere around there," Sati agreed. "After a time, you tend not to keep track anymore, as it can get a little depressing if you dwell on it."
"Bwee!"
"P-chan!" Akane cried out, as she leaped over the table to scoop up the little black piglet that had appeared on the porch and held him tightly to her bosom.
For once, Ranma was in too good of a mood to say anything insulting and simply groaned, rolling his eyes, as Akane fussed over her wayward pet. Sati, having been informed about the truth concerning the little porker through Ranma's letters, just softly chuckled to herself over the situation.
"SWEETO!"
The entire household went dead-silent at that terrifying cry, and began to go pale when they located the source of it nestled happily within Sati's bosom. And they began to edge away from the pair as Sati shifted back to her hybrid-form, her large triangular ears laying back flush against her skull and her lips pulling up, rising in a grimacing snarl, to expose a large assortment of very impressive teeth, followed by a rumbling growl.
"Happosai! If you don't let go, this instant... you will be in a world of pain!" Sati growled menacingly, her amber eyes flashing.
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Edit 1-11-14 Author Note: After so many years after working on this story I have come to realize just how silly it is to have Sati in her millions so I have retcon it so she is only about a thousand years or two. Before the edit I said she was 6 million years old in case new readers are wondering.
Edit 5-4-14: Changed the format and patched up things here and there. Nothing much changed.
(1) Timber!
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