This is a repost of the first Ice Age story. I've reworked #4 and
thought I'd repost the others so those who've read them could read them
again and tell me if they like the new #4 better...for those of you who
haven't read them...you probably haven't read 'Escape from Nermia'
either...heres the web page with all the stories on it:
http//bobcat.tamu-commerce.edu/~trotter/fics
I'll put part two up in a couple of hours...
Matthew Trotter, Sky Martial Bill says, "Throw another bug on the Bar-B!"
_________________________________________________________________________
I C E A G E
---------------
Part one: Ice Cold July
---------------
Because your so lonely in your nightmares
Let me in
Because you've waited through your ice age
Let me in
-Duran Duran
---------------
The wind was howling across the frozen lake as Shampoo crawled from
it. She shivered and tried to shake the bits of ice that were already
forming on her fur. As the wind whipped around her she began to realize
the real danger she was in. In her cursed form there was no way she
would ever make it through the wind and snow back to the lodge...much
less the restaurant. She let out a pitiful mew as she realized that she
would die here...alone...where she might never be found...
-----------
Outside there was a sound in the wind...it sounded like a kitten
mewing for its mother. Kodachi forced herself up out of her comfortable
bed, she didn't want a kitten to die out there in the cold. As she
gained her knees the wind hit her. It was bitterly cold. The words
'bitterly cold' took on a whole new meaning for her. It was as if the wind
were trying to rip the flesh off of her to make her even colder. Looking
around she spotted the source of the noise...it wasn't a kitten, it was
a cat. It was soaking wet. It looked like it had just been dumped in a
bath....Kodachi could see why it was mewing...there were clumps of ice
already beginning to freeze its fur into knots.
-----------
Shampoo almost jumped when the crazy girl lurched to her knees out of
what had looked like a snow bank. Almost. Her legs were shaking so
badly that she had almost fallen over too. The crazy girl looked around
and finally spotted her...but there was something about her eyes...the way
they didn't quite seem to focus on her completely. Shampoo watched with
growing hope as the crazy girl pulled herself to her feet. As the crazy
girl stumbled toward her Shampoo felt relief force its way into her heart.
She didn't have to die! The crazy girl could carry her back! ...it wasn't
that far....
-----------
Kodachi felt the world lurch out from under her....it had to be an
earthquake or something...nothing else could throw you to the ground
like that. Kodachi tried to stand up, but suddenly there wasn't any
up...
. ... there wasn't any down. . ..
. . ....there was just darkness. .. . everywhere...
.....Cold. .. ..
. . ..bitter .. .
. .... black...
Kodachi tried to shake it off, Ranma was coming...he would save
her...
....he had to...
...Ran. . ..ma.. ..
.. . ... ? . .. ..
.. . ..he.. ..
..was. ... ....coming.. . . ..
...he. . ..was...
.. .....no one. ... . . .... ...no one was coming. .. ... .. ...
. ...they didn't even know she was here.. .. . . ...she was alone... ..
just like before. . . ..
..no friends. .. ....
.. .... ...no mother...
. ..no one... . .. .... .
Somewhere in the darkness a voice called out to
her....
...she couldn't tell what it was saying...
...but it seemed to be
crying...
... . ..someone.. . ...
...out there in the darkness...
..someone crying...
she wasn't alone?
Kodachi tried to move toward the voice,
but there was no way to move...
she thrashed in to directionless void.
-----------
Shampoo mewed again, it was all she could do. The crazy girl moaned
again and rolled over...Shampoo could see the snow had gotten in the
leotard...it was melting...she knew that in this cold that would mean
frost bite....Shampoo mewed again....the crazy girl had to wake up....
Shampoo had never been her friend...or liked her really...but she
couldn't just lay there and freeze to death....the crazy girls eyes
fluttered open and she looked around in a daze. Shampoo mewed urgently.
She wouldn't last much longer in this wind...her fur was beginning to
stiffen with ice...the crazy girl blinked at her, and then dragged
herself to her knees again...
-----------
Kodachi knew the cold was dangerous, she had to get the cat back home
before either of them started to have snow hallucinations. The cold
would make you believe in the wrong things... .. . .
. . ........ ..like being
in a warm bed.... . ... .
. . .. .......or that you were in a nice cozy house with
a warm fire....
. ...Kodachi blinked...
.. ...she needed to get out of the cold...
. ..the house was just. .. . .
... ... no. She needed to get the cat first.
-----------
Shampoo watched the crazy girl get to her feet. Then to her absolute
terror the crazy girl took two lurching steps toward her, and swayed at
the edge of the lake before dropping to her knees next to Shampoo.
Shampoo watched the crazy girl's lips move, but couldn't make out what
she was trying to say...
-----------
Kodachi picked up the cat. The cat was freezing cold to the touch.
and the wind only made matters worse...She was going to have to try to crawl
away from the lake, it was too dangerous to stand up near it. Holding
the cat to her chest to shield if from some of the wind, she crawled on
her hand and knees. Using only one hand made it hard to stay balanced on
the shaking ground, fortunately she was a gymnast, and she could balance
well enough to crawl through the snow. It was cold and unpleasant, but
it was better than nothing.
-----------
When the crazy girl had picked her up, Shampoo had hoped things were
going to be ok, but she slowly began to realize that she wasn't the only
person who was in deep trouble. The crazy girl was hardly warm at all.
Even though she was holding Shampoo to her chest, Shampoo could barely feel
any body heat through the leotard. She began to wonder how long the crazy
girl had been in that snow bank...wearing only a leotard...Shampoo
started to mew again, she couldn't stop it...if she could have cried she
would have...
-----------
Kodachi looked at the cat
...it was mewing again...
it was probably so cold it couldn't stop
...she had to hurry....
she pushed herself to her feet despite the shaking ground
...she had to get the cat home...
...NOW...
Kodachi forced herself to run, it wasn't far to the house
. ... ...it was.. .. ....
Kodachi stopped running.
The ground stood still.
There was no house.
The snow capped the branches of the trees like little blankets....the
ground wasn't shaking. Reality hit Kodachi with the next gust of wind.
She didn't know where she was....
-----------
The crazy girl stopped and looked around... .
.. . ...Shampoo knew that
look....
.. .it was the look of the lost...
.. .they were both going to die...
.. . ... .the crazy girl collapsed. .. ... ...... ..