The path of Life.		By: Matdeception.

Disclaimer: Ranma ˝ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, Gold Digger belongs to
Fred Perry. This story is a divergence, and will become a crossover with
Gold digger within the first few chapters. C&C, flames, and death
threats sent to narkanarka@hotmail.com. Questions of when the next
chapter will be coming out shall be ignored, crushed, and thrown into a
roaring fire to keep me warm at night. Thanks.

Authors notes: The divergence takes place during the catfist training,
and then becomes a continuation after the Saffron incident. The first 3
chapters are going to deal with the first divergence, and then the
chapter 4 and on will deal with the rest of the story. This is my first
attempt at a non 1st person PoV type fic, so please give me some
constructive C&C. Unless stated, everything 'else' in the Ranma ˝
universe goes exactly as Canon. Gold Diggers will have some extreme
changes, but nothing world shattering. I believe this is the fic I will
continue till completion, this of course depending on wether or not I
screw up royally while writing the first few chapters of this fic.
Thanks.



Kyoto outskirts.

"Please pop! No more.. please.. it hurts." Wept a 10 year old Saotome
Ranma, Heir to the Saotome Anything goes school of martial arts, as he
begged his father in vain to stop the pain, the torture he could feel
enveloping his mind and soul bit by bit. "P-p-please pop, please.." His
pleas would fall on deaf ears however.

"Are you a man or a little girl!" Genma Saotome, ultimately a cruel and
callous man, admonished his weak son. "Were not going ANYWHERE until you
learn that technique!" He completely ignored his son's plea's as he once
again tossed him into the pit of cats, and with out so much as a 'Good
luck, son, I know you can do this', or even a 'This is for your own good
boy!', he slammed the wooden hatch over the make shift pit, locking it
with a sturdy steel 'Master' work lock.

Walking away from the pit, Genma callously spoke his mind "Hopefully
this will kill the boy." And with out a thought he strode the one
hundred meters to his camp, and the blissful oblivion that only a
contented night sleep can bring.


Darkness. That's all Ranma could see, and for that he was thankful. He
didn't want to see the way the cats sliced into his body, tearing the
red ichors of life away from him with out so much as a thought. Yes,
Ranma was indeed thankful for the darkness. Thankful he didn't have to
see their insane and maniacal eyes, forced into their frenzy from their
near death due to starvation.

Despite not being able to 'see' the creatures, Ranma couldn't contain
his shrieks of pain, of fear, and of growing rage against his father for
forcing this on him. Pain, focused and tempered into mental shielding
through his years on the road, became his strength, but that was only a
strength of the body. The pain he felt was more of the mind, than that
of the body, and Ranma was soulfully unprepared for this form of abuse,
he could literally feel the 'claws' of the cats stripping away at his
mind and sanity.

"HELLLP" Ranma screamed, over and over again until his voice became
hoarse and useless, yet no one came to answer his plea, no one came to
release him from his prison, and from his view no one would come to
help. He was ultimately a worthless child, his father had said so many
times in the past. Now, this only proves his fathers words. Ranma cried,
his mental faculties shutting down one by one as he willed his 'death'.
He no longer wanted to live, no longer wanted to see his mother, no
longer wanted anything more than to die. His very will to live was
sapped away, and he'd be damned before he let it return.


Jonathan Richardson, born and raised in the good Ole USA, CA.
California, had been exploring the few remaining natural forests of
Japan to aide in some of his geography studies, when he heard the shrill
cry of a child.

Jonathan paused in his information gathering, actually he was just
taking pictures of the different plants and tree's, as well as a few
remaining ancient structures that has survived the onslaught of time.
Thinking his imagination was playing a trick on him, he returned to his
work, idly noting his Wife, Marilynn, was approaching from behind.

He turned and shot her a soft smile, his green eyes tracing over her
form as she moved in and slowly towards her husband. "Hey Mari, you
finished cataloging the west side of the forest?"

"Yes dear." She answered in that familiar singsong voice, however
Jonathan picked up on a underlying tone of fear, something was wrong.

As if to answer his speculations, the same cry of help rent the air, and
that was all Jonathan needed to jump into action, shouting back to his
wife as he followed the voice deeper into the forest "Get the cell Mari
and call for help!"

Trees filtered by the man as he dashed forward, hardly taking the time
to stop and notice the beauty of the area he had just found himself in.
In fact, he only stopped twice, each time bringing his fear, his worry
over what was happening to new heights. Once the voice would call for
help again, he would begin his mad dash, noting in relief he was getting
closer and closer to the sound.

Appearing through a line of trees into a clearing, Jonathan looked
extremely bedraggled. Moving as he did, fast and furious through the
forests had left him little time to worry about the natural hazards,
such as stray branches wiping at him, and thorn bushes snagging deep
into his skin. Small, miniscule gouts of blood flowed slowly down his
arms and legs. Mentally cursing himself for forgetting to wear pants, he
continued in his search.

Another scream, and he had zoned in on the target. Stopping before a 5
foot wide, 3 foot long wooden hatch in the ground, "Is anyone in there?
I'm here to help! Just tell me you're alright!"

Not taking the time to wait for an answer, Jonathan ignored the lock,
gritting his teeth he wrenched the entire hatch out of the ground
through sheer adrenaline and determination alone. What he found forced
him to turn and vomit uncontrollably.


Light, the terrible light. Ranma, through the pain and misery of the
moment, could feel it invading the darkness. His mind once again
'feeling' the fear of what was to come next. His bastard father would
once again admonish him for failing, once again he would throw him back
into this hell. Ranma admitted that Genma would prolly do it with out
preamble, he knew now, deep down that Genma wanted him to die.

It came as a surprise then, when a pair of slender, soft and comforting
arms engulfed him. Words he could barely discern, cooing words of
encouragement, of sorrow. Ranma, his mind to strained by what has
happened, fell into blissful unawareness.


The soft and comforting arms belonged to one Marilynn Richardson,
frantic and screaming at her husband "JON! HELP! We have to get him to a
hospital!" She nearly cried when the boy in her arms cried out in his
sleep, "Please pops, no more.. mom.. help.." What monster could do this
to their child?

Jonathan, recovering quickly at the sound of his distressed wife,
quickly clambered down the pit, joining his wife and the subject of
whatever torture has been going on here. Hoisting the two up, he quickly
rejoined them as Mari staggered to her feet with the child in her arms,
oddly displaying strength she was never known to possess. Jonathan
eventually chalked that up to 'motherly' instincts and her drive to
protect the boy from whatever monster that instigated this event.

"Are the paramedics and officials on their way?" he asked while the two
ran, showing no care or preamble to their personal health as they
crashed repeatedly through the foliage. "Its been fifteen minutes since
I called them, they should be here already, or will be soon."


Hyato Chiba (No rose flingers in this family, I assure you) was
immediately surprised when the call went out for a paramedic team to
report to some call about a hurt child in the nearby forests. However,
his oath and duty to protect life refused to lay down and die,
especially when other members to his team said it was prolly a fluke
call.

"How much longer until we get there?" Hyato asked, showing excitement,
fear, dread, and worry about what he would find there.

"A minute or two, the caller gave extremely good directions to the site
oddly enough. Sit back and relax Hyato, we'll be there soon." Masaki,
their team leader and expert driver informed the young paramedic.

Sitting back, Hyato mentally reviewed all his procedures for what was
detailed in the call. A child, possibly between the ages of 8 and 12,
had been found and was assumed wounded, if the cries of pain were any
guess. Possible afflictions determined as a broken limb, or head trauma
from a fall in the area.

"Were here." Announced Masaki, as he jumped from the ambulance and raced
onto the scene. Hyato, jumping from his seat and out the door barely
caught the gasp of surprise and revulsion from his team leader. Slightly
curious as to why, Hyato turned his head and spied what can only be
described as nightmare made form.

A boy, long many hair tied into a big tail, clenched tightly within a
Gajin's arms, had gouts of blood flowing openly from his exposed legs,
arms, face, chest. The boy looked like he fought against Edward
Scissorhands himself, fought and lost. While Hyato's mind was out to
lunch in horror at what appeared before him, apart of him remembered to
request for medical air support. Whatever happened to the child, it
looked like he was lucky to be alive. Who could do such a thing?


Genma sneezed harshly and bolted awake, his eyes almost immediately
becoming accustomed to the surrounding light. Something was wrong, he
could feel it in his very being.

Jumping to his feet and bounding off towards the pit, Genma mentally
accessed what could have gone wrong. 'Is the boy finally dead? Did he
master the Neko-ken? Nothings missing from camp, so the only thing I can
even think might have gone wrong has to deal with the boy.'

Approaching the pit, Genma immediately noticed the hatch had been torn
off its hinges, blood and mud splattered in all directions. "Oh shit."
Was all Genma could say to that. His bulbous eyes quickly scanning the
surronding area in fear, 'If Ranma mastered the Neko-Ken, I could be in
serious trouble'. Time, moments really, passed with no angry bastard
sons attacking, Genma noted. 'Where is the boy?'

Finally taking the time to follow the miniscule pools of blood, noting
they head off into the forest, Genma took off at a dead run. His
training allowing him to follow the path left by Jonathan and Marilynn,
all the way back to their clearing. Ducking low, he peered through the
foliage just in time to see his worthless excuse for a son loaded into a
helicopter, which then took off in earnest. 'Kyoto General Hospital'
Genma mentally repeated in his mind as he read the markings on the side
of the chopper.

Retreating back into the forest , he began plotting his course of
action. He had to get the boy back, back before they find his mother and
the little shit has a chance to tell her everything. No, Genma swore to
himself he wouldn't let that stain upon his life to screw it up even
more.

And so, Genma disappeared into the shadows, passing as though a wisp of
wind, they never did find him in the forest that night.


"…actured elbow, numerous cuts found and treated all over his body. He
had to be transferred from Kyoto general to Tokyo for his MIR and CAT
tests. Has he regained consciousness yet Dr. Hiso?" Mature voices, Ranma
inwardly noted. Where was he?

"I'm afraid not, from the paramedic reports the boy was literally being
tortured, both physically and mentally. I don't know how long he's been
out there, but if his malnutrition is any indicator, it's been a long,
long time."

"What do you suggest we do? MRI's and CAT scan's show his mind is still
active, if abit scarred. Should we alert his parents?"

A derisive snort sounded from one of the men, Ranma couldn't understand
half of what they were talking about, but continued to listen, not
giving so much as a iota of evidence that he was awake. "Parents? Who do
you think did this to the boy? No, we are not calling his parents, leave
that to the authorities. If indeed his father and mother were
responsible for this, you can guarantee hell on earth for those two."

Mother? Ranma, began to cry, alerting those nearest to him of his
revival. None could miss the continued sobs, and the audible cries for
his mother. Dr. Hiso, motioned for the other doctor to leave the room,
then pulled up a chair and sat down next to the boy, calmly asking "How
are you feeling?" As if the tears weren't enough.

However, Ranma refused to answer the questions presented to him. He
simply lay there, his showing life, yet making no effort to respond to
his environment. After an hour of questions, and receiving no answers
Hiso left the room, idly wondering what must be going through the boys
mind.

Within the mind of Saotme Ranma, was a boy swearing an oath so profound,
it would have ever lasting effects throughout time 'Father loves me, I
know it. I was weak, a fool to think he didn't. I won't fail you again
father, I won't! I swear they will never get a word out of me. Pop..
please forgive me for my weakness.' With that said, Ranma dove off into
a dreamless slumber, oblivious to the cruel fate that awaits him in the
hands of one Saotome Genma.


Author's Chapter Notes: This chapter deals with Ranma ˝ and RM only.
Next chapter will introduce some of the gold diggers cast. I'm trying
for semi-dark, eventually leading up into 'lighter' moments, and then to
drop back down to angst and shiznats for this fic. Any questions you
feel are worth my attention; please send the email to
narkanarka@hotmail.com. Thanks.