Faster Than the Eye

[KonokoHasano]

Okay, let's all just blame the Gold Digger pocket manga I've been reading lately for this thing infesting my mind. I'm basically getting this down while my mind finally gets back in gear to start on one of my main stories (Take the Green and Go specifically).

Not really sure if something like this has been done before, but even if it has, let's hope I can make this story different enough. Some aspects may seem cliche, but hey, it's how you work it out and make the end-product that matters. So, without further ado...

Faster Than the Eye


The series that are used within this story are owned by their respective creators. As such, I do not own anything regarding them.


“Speech”

‘Thought’


Chapter 1


Brendan steadied himself as he trudged through the pitch blackness of the night that only seemed to grow steadily darker and eerier the longer he went on. He was a powerful werewolf, and this was proven by the fact that he was the leader of his clan. Well, former clan would have been a better way to describe it since he was basically a fugitive on the run for crimes that he had done and was going to do. If it weren’t for his meddling daughter, Jetta, he would have still been able to move around in secret until the time to reveal his plans was perfect.

His spell book had been the first nail in the coffin. Once his ‘darling’ daughter had discovered the book, it was quickly learned of Brendan’s contract that had been made between the werewolf and an evil sorcerer. Then the truth that it was HIM who caused the war between the werewolves and werecheetahs to resume, and that he had planned to sell out his own clan as slaves to said sorcerer all along had come to light. Needless-to-say, this information had pissed off his clan, but the one who had felt the most anger and betrayal was Jetta.

His daughter had then challenged him for the leadership of the clan, and it was his own daughter -- who was still just a teenager of all things -- who managed to hand Brendan a humiliating defeat; one that still lingered in his mind. The werewolf would have liked nothing more than to have killed the little bitch for the embarrassment of it all, but that would have been impossible.

Just as they were about to hand him his banishment, a second and much larger nail had become known. One of the members of the clan had discovered that one of the women had been placed under a spell by Brendan that had her under his control. While under it, she was secretly taking care of an infant that was revealed to be a werecheetah; a boy to be exact.

The former leader of the werewolf clan had found himself in deeper hot water once he quickly revealed that he had taken the child on an impulse while being confronted by a mage. He had finished killing off Xerses and Cyan, the leaders of the werecheetah clan, and had come across a baby crib. Within it were two babies. Brendan then revealed that he had reached out to kill the boy first, but a mage had appeared, and he reacted without thinking and ran away with the infant still within his possession.

He had contemplated killing the child, but then figured that it’d be much more amusing to have it grow up as a slave along with the werewolf clan he had promised to his evil sorcerer master. Besides, there were much better things out there than death, and that was especially true for an infant that didn’t know life yet.

That information had the effect of infuriating the werewolf clan even more, and they no longer wanted to just have him banished; they wanted to kill him. However, Brendan wasn’t the former leader of the clan for nothing, and while he was beaten and battered from his fight with his daughter, he still had enough power to quickly knock out the werewolf holding the infant and escape. It had taken a little over a day, but the werewolf had finally managed to get far enough away from his former clan. Now the only problem was how he would face his master.

“It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.” Brendan growled out as he continued to walk. Glancing down at the small bundle in his arms, the werewolf’s expression changed to one of hatred. “Stupid were-cat, this is your species fault for existing. I should just kill you now.” The infant merely made a spit bubble in response to his statement. Brendan wanted to kill the child more than anything, but he refrained from doing it in hopes that his dark master would show some sort of lenience once he presented the child to him as a future slave.

As the old English proverb goes, speak of the devil and he will appear. As soon as Brendan began thinking about the dark magician who gave him his powers, said magician appeared before the werewolf and loomed over him. “Where are my slaves, werewolf?” The figure asked in an eerily calm voice. His entire body was covered by a cloak, and all that could be seen were a pair of eyes hidden within the shadows of his hood. “You said that the next time I saw you would be when you had your clan ready to be enslaved.”

Brendan took a deep breath to steady himself before kneeling apologetically. “I am sorry, Master, but I have failed. My clan found out about my intentions and banished me. I have no excuses for my failure.”

“Worthless Lycanthrope,” the dark being began in disgust, “You couldn’t even perform a simple task and had to get yourself found out. You offer me slaves but come back empty handed. For that--”

“W-- Wait master!” The former clan leader announced as he held up the small bundle in his arms. “I may not have been able to give you my former clan, but I still brought this child that you could turn into a slave! It’s one of the last two remaining werecheetah infants I was going to kill before getting chased away by some mage! You could raise it to--”

Brendan was interrupted by a feeling of searing pain that coursed through his body as the cloaked being snatched the infant from his arms. “Fool, a baby is of no use to me, and it would take a few years wasted before it could provide some use. You have failed me for the first and last time, for I have no patience in me to deal with something like you.”

“Wait, master, give me another chaAAARRRAAAGH!!” The werewolf quickly found his body wracked with pain worse than he had ever felt before. All he could do was scream until he lost consciousness and entered into blissful darkness.

“I shall deal with him later.” The dark sorcerer commented before turning his gaze to the currently wailing infant. The noise was painful to his ears, and it was one of the reasons that he loathed children. However, the child WAS one of the last two remaining werecheetah if what the werewolf said was correct, and so it could very well provide useful later on. However, he refused the very notion of taking care of a retched thing that only ate, wet its diapers, cried, and slept. He had no time for it, but there had to be some solution. If only…

That was when his beady eyes widened as an excellent idea came to him. It was a way to let the infant grow up without him having to waste time helping, and then he could swoop in later and begin using the boy.

He’d have someone else raise the infant, but the question was who.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After creating a torturous prison to hold the failure of a servant, Brendan, the dark sorcerer began scrying in an effort to locate possible candidates to take care of the useless werecheetah infant until such a time it was suitable to take back and put to work doing his bidding. It had taken several tries due to the constant crying of the little wretch breaking his concentration. He finally shut it up by conjuring up a bottle and stuffing it into the infant’s mouth.

Once the scrying was finished, the cloaked being saw several suitable candidates appear before him. Most of them seemed to work out, but one caught his eye more than the others. The reason for this was because of the husband being a martial artist, and the idea of having a werecheetah that could fight was tempting… too tempting. None of the other candidates would provide the infant with any fighting skills, and besides, the couple seemed as if they wanted a child, but were incapable of producing one on their own. Yes, it definitely was a tempting decision.

“Will you shut up, child?” The mage growled out at the infant who apparently finished the bottle and was now wailing without stop. “Grrr... I can’t take this anymore!” He shouted and decided upon the couple that he had observed; anything to get the little beast out of his hair.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Genma Saotome placed an arm around his wife for support as the couple leaned against the railing of the bridge and stared down at the creek below. Even though he was in his early-20’s, the Saotome male was already going bald on the top of his head, and that wasn’t something he was proud of at all.

“It’s not the end of the world, Nodoka.” Genma suddenly stated as he pulled his wife close. “So you can’t give birth to a child. We can always find one to adopt.” While he did love his wife, Genma had felt incredibly disappointed that the woman was incapable of bearing an heir for him. He had wanted a son to pass on the art to, and to honor the pact he had made with his old training partner, Soun Tendo. An adopted child wouldn’t be the same, but he could continue on with his plans.

“I don’t know, Genma.” Nodoka answered sadly as the breeze blew her auburn hair around. “I’ve failed as your wife. What kind of woman am I to be unable to give the man she loves a child?” The young woman shook her head before quickly trying to climb onto the railing. “I don’t deserve to live! You’re better off finding another woman who isn’t a failure!” Nodoka managed to get on top of the railing, but found that a hand was pulling on the back of her kimono. “Let me go, Genma! I must remove the smear that I have brought upon our family!”

“Nodoka, dear-- ouch, don’t kick me!” The balding martial artist announced as he dodged another backwards kick from his struggling wife. “Nodoka, you’re causing a scene-- ow, damn it woman!” True to his words, a few people passing by couldn’t help but stare at the couple for several moments before going about their own business. After-all, it was best and healthier to ignore eccentric scenes that did not involve one’s own self.

After what seemed like an eternity, Nodoka began to calm down and allowed her husband to remove her from the railing. The young woman turned her head away slightly and allowed a blush to appear upon her cheeks. “I wasn’t really going to jump, dear. I was… just playing around.” The auburn-haired woman’s statement caused her husband to sweat-drop.

As Genma was about to open his mount to respond, he suddenly heard the sound of a baby crying from below. Peering over the railing and glancing around, the balding martial artist managed to pinpoint that the cries were coming from a patch of grass near the edge of the water. Ignoring the questions from his wife, Genma gave a quick hop over the railing and landed right next to the patch of grass. The martial artist couldn’t help but stare at the child before him that was protected by nothing but a small blanket.

The infant had slightly longer than normal ears that ended elfish-like points, and its eyes -- large and wide as the child stared directly at him -- were a clear cyan color clouded by tears. Perhaps the weirdest aspect of the child was the color of the tufts of hair upon its tiny head. It was a dirty blond in color with several dark brown spots mixed into it.

Reacting quickly, Genma scooped up the baby into his arms and leapt back up onto the bridge where Nodoka was watching with curiosity. When she noticed the bundle in her husband’s arms, the auburn-haired woman reached out and snatched away the infant. Nodoka raised a finger and gave the sniffling infant a tickle on the nose, and this succeeded in causing it to let off a tiny giggle. “It’s so adorable, dear, and was it all alone down there?” The woman asked with an odd look in her eyes.

“The baby was the only one down there, and there wasn’t a crib or anything to identify it.” Genma answered with a shake of his head. As he stared at his wife, he could tell exactly what the woman was thinking. In fact, he also had thoughts of his own as well. “Nodoka, we could always make this child ours.

His wife could only answer with a smile as she held baby close. It was then that she noticed something that caused her to frown. “It looks like someone needs a diaper change.” She obtained a small baby-like giggle in response.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The infant, given the name Ranma by the two new and happy parents, almost seemed to advance quickly in his physical abilities. Within just a few months, he was already walking without too much trouble, and it was around this time in which Genma decided it was time to train the boy in the art. The balding Saotome couldn’t do much at the moment, but he was able to get his son to mimic a few very simple katas. It was obvious that the child didn’t know what he was doing, but he was having fun mimicking his father, and was able to soak everything up like a sponge.

The two new parents soon found that it was hard to fully contain Ranma due to the child moving around almost non stop. The toddler would get into almost everything in an effort to satiate his childish curiosity, and both Genma and Nodoka soon found that they needed to keep extra watch on him at all times except for when he was eating or sleeping. However, it was just after Ranma turned two-years-old when things started to get really interesting.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nodoka hummed softly to herself as she prepared breakfast. It was just a few days after they celebrated their son’s second birthday. They weren’t sure of the exact date of Ranma’s birth, but they were able to make a close guess based on how old the doctors said he appeared to be. As a birthday present, Genma had decided to finally officially start Ranma’s training instead of just having the boy mimic simple katas. Nodoka was reluctant of the idea at first because of their son’s age, but her husband manage to convince her that he figured the boy was as ready as he could be.

She felt kind of bad that Ranma seemed to garner a lot of attention because his appearance was so much different from everyone else. The first thing anyone seemed to question was about his hair, and if they had accidentally splattered ink onto it and never bothered to clean it out. Whenever it was stated that it was their son’s natural color, it only earned even more curious looks.

The second aspect that drawled attention to Ranma was his ears. People always seemed to mention about how they seemed to be slightly elfin in appearance due to them being slightly longer than normal and pointed. In fact, some had even made jokes that their son probably WAS an elf, but nobody actually believed the very idea.

The third and final attention-grabber was the tiny fangs that the boy sported. Luckily, most wrote it off as nothing more than his canines just growing in pointier, because it wasn’t exactly unheard of for something like that to happen. However, it DID gain some looks along with Ranma’s ears and hair.

Nodoka shook her head softly as she continued to fix their meal. “I think he’s just a miracle child.” She mumbled to herself softly. Ever since that day they found him, the auburn-haired woman believed that their wish had been answered by higher powers much like many of the old folklore stores centering on childless couples.

“Nodoka!” Genma’s shout almost caused the woman in question to cut her finger on a knife in shock. Luckily, she hadn’t cut her finger, but she had turned around and directed an evil glare towards her husband appearing at the entryway. The Saotome matriarch lost her glare when she noticed that the man was carrying their son within his arm at his side and was sporting a look of shock. Ranma merely had a look of confusion upon his features as his father carried him in the odd position.

“Genma, what--”

The balding martial artist interrupted his wife as he sat their son down on the floor. “You wouldn’t believe me if I explained it to you.” He said with an odd look in his eyes before staring down at their son. “Boy, do whatever it was that you did during our morning training.”

“I do somet’ing bad, daddy?” Ranma asked softly with his head down. How was he supposed to know that his father would act all weird? This had caused Nodoka to look on in confusion and curiosity.

Genma shook his head. “No son, you didn’t do anything wrong. I just want you to show your mother what you did during training.” He had hope that the boy was able to do it again, otherwise his wife would think he were a fool.

The two-year-old boy gave a nod. “Kay!” He shouted before closing his eyes and doing what he had already done several times that day. A second later, his form wavered and he began to change in appearance.

Nodoka could only gasp and stare in shock as her son’s form changed into something completely different. The transformation only took a moment, but to here it seemed much longer due to her needing to digest the information. One thing was for certain, though. Her son had just managed to transform into a cheetah cub. Now she knew why Ranma’s appearance was the way that it was.

The transformed Ranma tilted his feline head in confusion and wondered why his parents were acting so weird. “Mama?” He asked. It was apparent that even though his form was that of an animal, he could still use speech to communicate.

The voice of her son broke Nodoka out of her sudden shock. She was still startled and confused, but she was able to find her voice. “Ranma, h-- how did you do what you did just now? When did this start happening?”

“Dunno,” Ranma answered as he tried to think. “Waked up and was kitty. I normal when t’ink it.” For emphasis, he closed his eyes and managed to transform back to normal. “Was scared. Now I not. Is mama scared?” The question was asked because his mother still seemed to be wide-eyed and still.

Once the question finally registered in her mind, Nodoka gave her son a small smile as she kneeled to give him a hug. In truth, she was still weirded out, but Ranma was her son, and she had always figured that there was something special about him because of how they found him and his appearance. However, this wasn’t what she was expecting. “Of course I’m not, sweetie. I was just amazed that you could do something like that.” She could only wonder just where the boy had come from.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After breakfast had been finished, and after Ranma had gone off to play with some toys in his room, Genma pulled his wife aside and proceeded to pull up a subject that the woman dreaded the thought of.

“Nodoka, I think it’s time that I took the boy on that training trip that I’ve been thinking about. He can already walk without a problem, and he’s quickly soaking up what I’ve been teaching him. That other form of his also has potential, and I want to see if I can train him to fight in that form as well.” Thoughts of a cheetah being able to kick around even the greatest of martial artists flashed through Genma’s head.

Nodoka could only stare at her husband in shock. “He’s only two-years-old, Genma. Why can’t you wait a few more years before doing it? You could still train him and both his forms here!” She wasn’t ready to let her son go just yet. The very idea was absurd beyond anything else. “He’s too young.”

“The younger he is, the more he’ll pick up and learn while on the trip. I can see the potential in him from when I train him, Nodoka.” Genma’s features took on a grim look. “Besides, it’d be almost impossible to train his other form here in the city at home. It’ll drag too much attention into his direction. As of right now, I don’t think he’d be able to handle it. Later on when he’s trained and ready, however, I think he’d be able to handle it. I also think training that form will require a lot more space than just our tiny yard.”

Chewing on her lip as she thought about it, Nodoka could see the reasoning behind her husband’s actions. It’d be hard to keep their son’s ability under wraps for too long, and there’d be too many dangers if that were to happen. However, the same could be said for if Genma took Ranma away on that training journey. Of course, her husband’s ability at fighting, sneaking, and running away was superb. Because of that, she felt as if her husband could be trusted with their son.

“I-- I don’t know, honey. I understand what you meant perfectly, and I know that he’d be in danger here, but I still don’t know if I could agree to you taking our son away for who knows how long. I… what are you doing?” Nodoka asked as she watched her husband write something down on a piece of paper. It wasn’t long before it was handed to her to read.

‘I, Genma Saotome, swear on my honor that if you allow me to take our son on the training trip, he will be perfectly fine -- along with being a great martial artist -- upon the next time we meet. If, for some reason, something terribly wrong were to happen to our son on this journey, I, Genma Saotome, shall atone for my sins by committing seppuku.’

Secretly, Genma was smirking to himself. With him watching the boy, there would be nothing that could go wrong. He knew how his wife felt about honor, and so that contract would give him and easy ticket out of this place with his son.

Rolling the paper up and holding it carefully within her hand, his wife could only nod. “Alright, dear, I trust you to do as you said in this contract.” Her eyes turned hard. “However, if anything unfavorable happens to my son, you WILL be missing your head. Do you understand me?”

“P-- Perfectly, honey.” Genma answered with a sweat at the glare. ‘I was right. This was easy. Now I have all the time in the world to train the boy without her interference.’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I'm considering various aspects and things that could end up happening on the training trip. Certain things are a given in some way, but other things could be thought up.

Not sure if it's fully workable, but something I thought about is Genma and a young Ranma end up in the US... Atlanta to be exact, and a certain meeting would allow Ranma to learn of the truth of what he is.

[Heaven's Deamon]

*winces at one particular fact that made me speed through the rest* The Gold Digger Pocket mangas are split, the first volume of Gold Digger II has a flashback revealing all the circumstances around the werecheetah massacre and Theo getting Britanny, some of which clash heavily with the scenario you made. The pressence of Brendan's "Master" being the MAJOR one.

As to the question you had at the beggining, there have been various Ranma/GD crossovers in different ways. Such as Nodoka being a Werecheetah survivor (who may or may not have been pregnant with Ranma at the time) to Ranma having been an infant found/rescued by someone else, to Ranma becoming a Werecheetah later in life (such as at Jusenkyo) or not being a Werecheetah at all and using some other reason to interact with the GD cast.

[KonokoHasano]

Someone already brought up the issues and inconsistences regarding this story on the Fanfiction Forum, and I decided that I'll try to either re-create the story in some way, come up with a new thought surrounding it, or just drop it.

x.x I can't believe I made so many errors, but I guess that's what happens when you've only read six volumes of the pocket manga so far.

[Ahye]

Now, all I have to go off of for Golddigger is fanfiction, but from what I've read I think you missed two important things. First is what without something done about it, won't Ranma inflict lycanthropy on anyone he bites or scratches? He hasn't been sealed as far as I've seen. And if you're trying to tell me a child will get to two years old without scratching or biting anyone, well, I just don't believe that. Secondly, from what I've read, werecheatahs claws get brittle if they don't eat zebra every now and then. Now, as I said, this might be complete fannon, and not something from the series, I honestly don't know. However, if it isn't fannon, you should take these two items into consideration.

I spotted a couple small mistakes in the text. I forgot to mark them down while reading and now of course can't find them again. Overall it seemed quite readable though.

[borgrabbit]

Don't know if its fannon or not, but what about the silver/soul char issue. Also in the GD volume #1 in my hands, Brittany can only change once in 24 hours per form. So, human to hybrid-wait 24 hours to go human again. Hybrid to full cat can happen immediately but requires the wait to return to hybrid or human. Brittany also complains about not being able to speak in full cheetah form.
However, since it is AU, you can do what you want and I'll probably enjoy reading it anyway.
Ciao

[KonokoHasano]

I've run across too many inconsistencies within the story to actually be able to continue it like it is.

1.) That dark wizard -- Gothwrain -- wouldn't allow Ranma to live at all.

2.) Ranma immediately figuring out the transformation... and so young at that.

There are also several other small issues. In the long run, I have decided to scrap this, but perhaps try and come up with another way for a Ranma/Gold Digger cross.

[Spokavriel]

Big problem for me. Brendan never got near the hiding place with Cyan's child. He was going all out trying to exterminate the Were Cheetahs. That was his side of the deal and there is nothing in his character any of the times I saw Brendan come up in Gold Digger that shows any sign he would have tried to preserve any lives. He wouldn't have thought, if he had the child in hand, he would have twisted the head off as he ran and laughed about how the blood spurt out.

Wasn't there some point later on that made it clear Jetta was so important because she was found to be the only remaining fertile female werewolf and that's why she and her mate were protected at Eden? The Massacre was devastating to both clans.