Wisdom, Morality, and Meditation

Prologue

Far from the nearest town...

"Pops, I don't want to go back in the pit. Don't make me, Papa... Please!"

"Ranma, a true martial artist should be willing to give up his life for the sake of the Art!"

"But I'm scared, pops!" Ranma was already covered in bloody gashes from the previous attempts to teach him the Neko-ken. He cowered in a corner of the abandoned house his dad had occupied for "training" purposes. Ranma could hear the screeching and yowling of the cats trapped in the pit below. "I don't wanna learn the Neko-ken."

"You will learn it, boy!" Genma cuffed Ranma on the side of the head, and picked up the stunned boy by the back of his gi. Half carrying, half dragging the protesting boy towards the pit, Genma took a moment to reflect. Maybe the age of six was too early to try and teach the Neko-ken. But, if anyone could learn it, Genma was sure that his son could.

Genma instinctively countered the arm-bar that Ranma attempted to break his father's grip. Quickly delivering a jab to the boy's face, Genma stunned Ranma just long enough to completely wrap the boy in fish sausages and smear him with fish paste.

"Ranma, you'd better learn the Neko-ken this time... I'm running out of fish." With that, Genma kicked back the hatch of the pit, and threw the boy to the awaiting cats. He slammed the lid shut and sat down by the trap door to wait. Some time later, after Ranma's screams were overwhelmed by the noise and before the cats grew silent, Genma was overcome with a sense of foreboding. The cats grew quite much sooner than normal and the boy was quiet as well. Usually, the boy's crying could be heard even after the cats had quieted down. What had gone wrong to cause this sudden, eerie silence?

"Ranma, are you alright?"

Genma got no reply. Hesitantly, he grabbed a flash light, turned it on, and opened the trap door. Shining the light into the darkness, he could see no movements, nor could he hear any sounds. Suddenly, a pair of blue, gleaming eyes reflected light back at Genma. He barely had time to say, "Oh shit!" before all hell broke loose.