What has come before:
An object, a Ter'Angreal, sent Ranma and Company into RandLand (Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time Universe). They are currently in the company of the Wolfbrother Elyas, a pair of Aes'Sedi, their Warders, and a Gleeman. They just stopped to make camp after finding a lone, barely surviving Aiel. Nabiki has been milking the Gleeman Coledare for information. Her information gathering was stopped when Ryouga was hit by cold water in front of everyone. Turning into a wolf.
Feh! Taro thought as he scanned over his travelling companions.
Fem-boy's showing off again. Maybe I should show him who's better. That would be fun. Or maybe I could play a round of Pound the Pervert. That would be even more enjoyable.
Then again he thought, as his gaze rest on the unconscious newcomer, maybe I should wait? Whatever took him down may still be around or have a few friends. There were too many unknowns. Taro wanted to be at top form when facing anything unknown. So until he knew the strengths and weaknesses of the new enemy. The old man would have to wait.
Feh! Still the thought of letting the old pervert just sit there and smoke his pipe left a bad taste in his mouth. Taro contemplated tortures for the freak. As well as some other annoyances to wear the freak down before he decided to tip his hand.
*SPIT* Taro hated waiting. Still he couldn't help but wonder how he ended up in this mess.
He had arrived in Nerima with a plan. Wait at Tendo Dojo. Ambush pervert. Pound Fem-Boy when he got involved (as he always does.) Get new name.
Of course the plan was a bit more complicated than that but, that was what it all boiled down to. Besides a battle plan was only good till the first punch was thrown. After that everything changes. And if you're good you got the first series of changes right. Eventually though no mater how good you are the unexpected will occur. And that was the key Taro expected it and was going to take advantage of it when it occurred. He just had to wait.
The first part, getting to the Tendo Dojo, was easy. The tough part was finding a place to hide for the ambush. Outside was to obvious and he might miss the freak. Where else? Under the house? No it was all ready occupied by a rather inept little Ninja. What's this? The Tendo's have a new table. It was nearly six feet in length and had a skirting that almost hugged the floor. After verifying that Kasumi was the only one in the house. He snuck in and hid under the table.
He waited for hours. Patience he reminded himself, must have patience.
"Dinner." Kasumi called.
He almost lost it then. He had forgotten to store some food under here when he first hid, shortly after breakfast. Now he was famished. As the meal went on he fought a losing battle against his stomach. Off handily he noted that Pig-Boy was there arguing with Fem-Boy.
Then he blinked. Kasumi had slipped a bowl off rice with some pickles under the table. There was a note on top:
Dear, Mr. Taro
I know you must be hungry from hiding under the table all day. So please help yourself to some dinner.
Love,
Kasumi
PS. Please try not to make a to big mess when you attack grandfather Hopposai tonight.
How? H-how? he gave a mental shrug then started eating. What could he say this was Kasumi. After the meal he decided that when he attacked the freak the first thing he would do would be to send the him out of the house. Then he wouldn't feel bad about any damage he did.
Hmmm... What is that noise. Well what ever it is it got fem-boy to shut up.
"EEEEIIIII...."
That was Kasumi. Who would attack Kasumi?
Wwwwwhhhhoooooaaaaa....
Taro felt himself and the table lifted off the floor. After being lifted two meters off the floor he suddenly found himself falling towards the ground and a very startled Kasumi. Reacting quickly he took the brunt of the tables weight and landed straddled above Kasumi.
"....AAAAAAA"
Thump. "Oooowww."
Bracing oneself from landing with a heavy table on your back does not make one very stable. So when he was hit in the back by a screaming Nabiki, Taro found himself very close to a blushing Kasumi.
"Oh My"
"Sorry about that Kasumi. I'll just..."
Thump.Thump.Thump.Thump.Thump.
Thinking back to that made Taro smirk. He had hoped to get out from under the table unnoticed during the fight the had occurred. Unfortunately Akane had spotted him and let out an accusation. This had the effect of having all the martial artist there focusing there anger on him instead of each other.
The fight was harsh. He was outnumbered, In unfamiliar terrain, and did not have any cold water handy. Though he gave as good as he got after a few minutes he had manage to redirect his assailants at each other.
After pulling out of the fight Taro was able to take in his surroundings. That alone told him something weird was going on, even for Nerima. For one thing they weren't in Nerima. For another it was the middle of summer in Nerima. Here, from the trees, it appeared to be late fall. Though it was hot enough to be summer.
Distancing himself from the fight Taro sat down on the grass. Taking out a knife he planted it into the ground. Then taking a quick glance at the sun, he watched the fight. After about an hour the fight having died down a bit, he looked at the sun again. The he looked at his knife. It didn't make any sense. No wonder everything felt wrong.
They had maybe three hours of sunlight left. The were in the northern hemisphere. In the middle of winter, or the late fall with them being fairly far north. When it shouldn't be summer, though it was hot enough for it.
Still none of that compared to the shock he got latter that night. He had wanted to verify his findings because they didn't make sense. After that night they made a lot of sense.
The first thing he did was find the north star. From the looks of things it appeared his calculations were slightly off. Not much maybe a degree or so. That didn't compare to when he found the big dipper. It was barely recognizable.
With that things started to fall into place. Why it was the wrong season. Why he was off on the north star. They were in another time.
With that realization the uneasy feeling Taro had was gone. Now he knew what was wrong he felt more relaxed. Then it hit him. He had completely ignored the old man while he was determining what was wrong. Well now that I know what wrong with this place. I don't have to worry about that and can pound the pervert.
Ah, yes. It was rather enjoyable to pound in the head of the old man that night. Can't have anyone think I'm going soft now can I.
"Taro care to give a demonstration?"
Taro looked up to see Nabiki in front of a duck, a panda and a cat. Fem-boy was currently a girl and of sulking with her back turned to the rest of the group. The Old man was trying to grope him without much success.
Taro stood up with a smile on his face. Popping his knuckles he walked towards Nabiki. This could be fun.
Sodo hiked along the dussty rode. His money had run out a few towns back. And no one would buy his fireworks in the last few towns. The hard times makeing people less willing to spend money on frivalties. Still he was lucky to get out of Taroburn with his life after the guild hall was attacked.
These were trying times. Perhaps he could find service for a lord somewhere making his fireworks for a town. Heck he'd settle for the mayor of a village if it would get him food and a bed. Looking ahead he saw a town in the distance. Perhaps he would have better luck there. If his luck was with him he might even have a few more coins for his journey.
End Part 3b
Author's notes:
My knowledge of Taro is slightly limited and most of my basis for his character comes from a collection of how he is featured in several different fanfics.
When I first planned on this crossover I hadn't planned on using him, but when I did my first rough copy of the story (allot has changed from it). I had Ranma compare trollocs to Taro (as well as Ryouga) and the idea stuck so I had to bring him along. I still wasn't to sure how I would use him so I decided to put this chapter together so I could bring out some ideas. I now have a few possibilities for him at each end of the spectrum. I could see Taro going either way if he felt it would help him attain his goal of a new Name. I will have a more definite plan in time.