Chapter Text
"Please sir, very bad if you fall in spring!"
Whatever, we're trained martial artists, we know what we're doing! Pops lets out a big ol' battle cry, and moves to kick me. While he's distracted with his yelling, I leap into the air, and pivot into a kick, launching him down into a spring.
"Gotcha!" I scream in triumph. But he ain't coming back up. "Pops? What's up? We done already?" Maybe the springs are, like, super deep? Eh, my dad can swim. Why, his great speed at swimming is making the spring rumble as if there was a bear in it! There was no reason for that guide to be worried!
And then, a bear leaps out of the spring, landing on the pole, just like a trained martial artist. "Wha-What?" I stutter, as the giant panda faces me.
"That is 'Spring of Drowned Panda'!" The guide shouts at us. That sort of information would have been useful before now!
"Oh no..." I mutter, tuning out the rest of what the tour guide says. Yadda yadda, tragic tale, yadda yadda, body of a panda, I get the idea! But the panda, apparently Pops, leaps at me, as if he hasn't even noticed his transformation.
"Wait a second!" I shout at him, as I dodge his strike, just as swift as ever. "You never said anything about—" But before I can convince him to stop, he manages to hit me in my distraction.
As I plummet, I hear the words "Spring of Drowned Girl".
Shit.
---
My boy valiantly attempts to distract me, but I ignore him, and even with the added weight of the cursed water on my clothes, I hit him into one of these "cursed springs"! Ah, karmic justice! He should treat his old man better than that! He'll need more training to truly become a Man among Men...
Wait, why hasn't he emerged yet? I could feel cursed water holding me down, but I got out easy. Is he really that weak? I need to train that boy better...
I pace around the pool a few times. Is he still not getting out? Wimp.
Though, as I pace around, I notice I still feel heavy from the water, even though I should be dry by now...
And my arms are bigger than I remember...
And hairier...
And so are my legs...
...
I'M GOING TO KILL THAT USELESS GUIDE!
---
Okay, don't panic. I'm currently underwater in a cursed spring, with the body of a girl. And I have to die if I don't manage to become a Man among Men by the end of this training trip. The core of what it means to be a martial artist is ability to improvise, so I just need to do that!
Wow am I glad I heard the guide warn me about this spring, else I'd have just hopped out! This should be fine, as long as Pops doesn't find out. I think I can hear what sounds like a giant panda stalking around the spring, so I can't get out just yet, my dad's still here. But I can hold my breath for a few minutes, that'll be nothing compared to the horrors of Nekoken.
I shudder just thinking about it. Thank fuck neither of us fell in some "Spring of Drowned Cat". Though... this might be just as bad. I did survive Nekoken after all, but this? If Pops finds out about this, he will, no exaggeration, literally kill me.
As I begin to feel these shitty girl lungs start to falter, I hear loud stomping heading away. This is my chance to escape! I hop out of the spring, and without a second of hesitation, hide in some nearby bushes. Then, I look out.
Initially, it looks like panda-Pops is mauling the poor guide, but the guide is managing to block his strikes. Not bad, mister guide!
On the one hand, this is an excellent distraction, to prevent Pops from noticing me. On the other hand, the guide is my best bet to figuring out how to fix this, and he is currently occupied.
So, the good news is that my dad is distracted. The bad news is that the guide, who's my only clear path to fixing this, is also distracted. So, I need to distract my dad. Except my dad can't see me! Wait a second, he might not recognize me... No, too risky.
I need a plan for after talking to the guide too. Heck, what if he can't fix this? Then I'd be... No... I'd have to run away! If that's the case, maybe I should get a head start, but...
I'm Saotome Ranma, of the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts! Man among Men! I'm not gonna give up so easily! No, I'll keep an eye on my father and the guide, see if I can figure anything out from them. It'll be like training. Yeah, reconaissance training, I'm great at that!
Of course, for that, I'll need a better vantage point, and one which my dad can't stumble upon so easily. That cliff up there seems good!
As I jump up the cliff, I notice that this cursed body is even more nimble than my real one! 'Course, it's weaker too, so it's still worse for fighting, but I'm climbing up this cliff in record time.
As I reach the top of the cliff, I hear a weird splash. I look down to see if anyone's nearby, but I don't see anything, so I must have just knocked a rock in. Anyways, I have a perfect view of Pops and the guide from here, but there's no way they can see me! Now, to wait until the guide explains how to cure this curse!
Except, I can't even hear the words they're saying, I'm sure the guide is explaining everything to Pops, but I can't hear either of 'em! He's pointing at all the springs, I can't imagine what vital information I'm missing out on!
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"And that one is Spring of Drowned Cat. There is very tragic legend of cat who drowned there one thousand eight hundred year ago!"
I groan.
"And that one is Spring of Drowned Duck. There is very tragic legend of duck who drowned there one thousand three hundred year ago!"
I think I'm going to go look for food.
---
Shit, Pops is moving! Has he found me out? No, he's just headed toward the springs. Maybe he's on the way to fix his transformation.
I stealthily stalk through the bushes after him. With his big panda paws, he scoops something out of one of the springs. Could it be...!
No, it's just a little black piglet. He probably just wants some food. That's fair, I'm getting a bit hungry myself. I hope my stomach grumbling doesn't give me away...
He takes the piglet to the guide, who has prepared a pot of boiling water. Yup, just getting some food. My mouth waters as the guide inserts the piglet into the pot...
Yummy pork—
Holy shit what was that? The pig... turned into some familiar-looking boy, who runs off. Wait a second, I was right! The guide was showing dad the cure. Heat maybe? No, he didn't just make a fire, he put the boy-turned-pig-turned-boy into a pot of boiling water. So, the cure is boiling water! I just need to jump into one of the hot springs conveniently nearby...
Wait, no, that's the opposite of what I want! I jump away, just as I'm about to jump in some random cursed spring. I need to find some normal hot water. Thankfully, all my wilderness survival training has prepared me for exactly this situation! Well, not exactly this situation.
---
Okay, here we go! Pot of hot water, obtained! Now, just pour it over me, and...
Hothothot! I lose my balance and fall...
Into the small river I had obtained water from.
And now I'm a girl again. What!?
Well, I still have the fire burning from last time, let me try that again...
Hot water. Turns me into a boy. I carefully confirm that, indeed, I'm once again in my original form. Then, I carefully leap back into the river.
And I'm a girl again.
Well, keeping this hidden from my dad is gonna be interesting.