Hello all!  What we have here are three Ranma 1/2 fanfic beginnings.  I would
 like to know which ones sound interesting to you, and should be continued.
 The three prologues have nothing to do with each other, I just thought it
 would be easier to put them in one post.  They are very short, just giving the
 idea of what the plot of the full story would be like.  I would very much
 appreciate any feedback you have on the fanfic beginnings you enjoy most.
 Thanks a lot!  On with the proglogues!...


1.   Forgotten Barrel

	"ARG!!  That macho chick!!  Does she think everything is my fault?!!" a
 thoroughly wet Ranma-chan screamed into the air, having once again been victim
 to Akane�s wrath.  Nabiki spared the pig-tailed girl a glance as she passed by
 her in the hall of the Tendo home.
	"Yes," the middle sister answered before disappearing around a corner.
 Ranma-chan watched her go and sighed dejectedly.  *I better go change back,*
 she thought, and began walking towards the bathroom.  A few minutes later,
 Ranma reappeared, toweling off his hair.
	As he made his way through the hallway, the boy saw a door ajar on the left
 side which he had never noticed before.  *Hello, what�s this?* Ranma asked
 himself as she opened the door further and peered inside.  Darkness obscured
 his view, and it took him a moment to find a light switch.  Flipping it on,
 the light above illuminated what appeared to be a descending staircase leading
 to another door at the bottom.
	"Must be this place�s cellar," Ranma said to no one in particular.  He
 smiled.  "Maybe I can hide down here until Akane cools off."  Nodding, the
 martial artist hopped lightly down the steps and opened the second door.
 Again darkness enveloped him, but this time it was easier to find the switch.
 When the room was lit, Ranma found himself looking at a rather small area
 filled mostly with boxes and casks.  *Boooring,* he thought, examining a few
 of the boxes idly.  He moved further into the room and inspected the casks.
 Most of them were labeled �SAKE�.  Ranma harrumphed.  "Pop and Mr. Tendo
 shouldn�t ruin their bodies with this stuff," the cursed boy muttered,
 fiddling with various bottles which lined the shelf on the back wall.
	Out of the corner of his eye, Ranma caught a glimpse of an extremely large
 barrel to the right of the shelf.  Curious, he moved over to the barrel and
 turned it around to read its label.  It didn�t appear to have one, and Ranma
 was about to give up when he suddenly saw small, fainted printing near the
 bottom of the keg.  Tilting the container to bring his face nearer to the
 writing, and brushing of the dusty surface, Ranma read aloud the contents.
	"Here we go.  This one is�  Naniichuan wa--�  Na--� Nani--�" Ranma trailed
 off as his brain reread the words on the barrel over and over.  With trembling
 fingers, the young martial artist grabbed a sake bottle from the shelf and
 emptied it on the floor, then tore off the lid of the barrel.  The boy dipped
 the bottle into the clear liquid inside, filling it to the brim before lifting
 it back out.  Closing his eyes, Ranma mumbled a half-prayer and dumped the
 bottle over his head.
	A full minute later, all of Nerima paused to listen curiously as the most
 joyous laughter ever heard emanated from the Tendo household.

Author�s notes:  Well, this one popped into my head as I was working one day.
 I know it�s an incredibly short beginning, and a lot of people may be
 wondering what a barrel full of Naniichuan water was doing in the Tendo�s
 basement, but that would be explained later on if I chose to continue this.
 What do you think?


2.   Dream Connection

	Akane surged upward in her bed, sweat dripping profusely down her face as she
 stared forward, unseeing.  The dream had been too real, taking scattered
 images from her mind and forming them into one picture with perfect clarity.
 The dream had been of HIM:  the one that was currently sharing her bed.  Akane
 turned her head to look at his peacefully sleeping form, and her immediate
 impulse was to punch him through the roof.  But the anger which had built up
 upon seeing him slowly dissipated, and she restrained herself.  The Tendo girl
 realized that it was as much her fault as it was his that he was with her now.
 Akane recalled that it was she who had brought him into her room last night,
 and it had been her will that they went to bed together.  She had never
 expected that he actually loved her, but now, after the dream and looking back
 on his previous actions toward her, she knew that he cared for her more than
 anything.  Akane returned to her position on the bed, her head swimming and
 her tired body crying for more sleep.  Her last thoughts before slumber
 overcame her once more were of the insight the dream had given her.  Ryouga
 was P-chan.

Author�s notes:  Well, congratulations to me!  This is my first ever one-
 paragraph fic.  Actually, it�s just supposed to be a prologue.  I wanted to
 have a little fun when I portrayed Akane suddenly figuring out that Ryouga and
 P-chan were one and the same through a dream, so I tried to make it sound like
 she was dreaming about her and Ranma having slept together earlier that night.
 Did I pull it off before the punch-line?  Should I continue this?  What will
 she do, kill Ryouga in the morning, or actually try to think things through in
 a rational manner?  


3.   I�m Coming, Ranma!  Let�s Go for the Cure!

	Akane stared into the far-reaching depths of the ravine, a disagreeable
 queasiness taking over her stomach.  At the bottom, she could barely make out
 the raging river which separated the canyon walls as it swept violently
 through the channel.  She lifted her eyes away and shut them tightly, waiting
 of the sense of panic to fade from her system.  After a few moments the girl
 was ready to open them again and she did so, choosing to look instead at the
 opposite cliff face across the canyon rather than down.  Craggy grey rock
 dominated her view, occasionally disrupted by cling plants.  Akane took in the
 desolate, dangerous scene, and slowly, anger began to rise within her.
	For the sixth time that day, Akane inwardly cursed the reason for why she was
 in this awful mess.  She decided to make her discontent known to her traveling
 companion, who was currently making his way ahead of her along the cliff
 ledge.  
	"RANMA!" the girl screamed at him, "why did I ever let you convince me to
 come with you on this horrible trip?!"  Her shouts reverberated off the
 ravine�s sides, and the Tendo froze, half-expecting some kind of avalanche,
 even though there was surely no snow in this sweltering climate.  The pig-
 tailed boy turned his head back and grinned at her, hopping non-chalantly
 around the meter-wide ledge.
	"Aw, c�mon Akane," he pouted, walking back to where she stood.  "Have some
 fun!  Relax a little!  We�re almost there now, anyway.  I think."  The nervous
 girl gave him an icy glare and pressed herself against the cliff face to make
 sure it was still there.  She was clearly NOT relaxing.  Ranma�s smile faded,
 and he firmly grasped her shoulder, as if to fill her with his own conficence.
 "Akane," he stated in a serious tone, waiting until she looked at him to
 continue.  "Listen.  As long as you�re with me, nothing�s gonna happen to you.
 I promise.  Got it?"  Akane regarded him doubtfully for a second, and then a
 smile bloomed on her face.  She nodded weakly, and the two continued on, Ranma
 allowing his fiancee to lead as he watched her carefully. 
	As they walked, Akane remembered what had brought Ranma and herself to this
 point.  The boy had just shared his plan with her nearly two weeks ago�.

*Flashback alert!  Flashback alert!*�.

Author�s notes:  Okay, this is the last fic I made a beginning for.  Should it
 be continued?  The story itself would be put in the "Ranma-goes-on-search-of-
 a-cure" genre.  On quite a few fanfics I�ve read, Ranma decides to go to China
 to get a cure, and it means a terribly heart-wrenching break up between him
 and Akane, as he leaves her behind.  So I decided to make one in which she
 came along, the two of them facing obstacles and dangers together.  Romantic,
 ne?  However, the story would probably be mostly adventure, if I can pull it
 off.  So how about some feedback?


Okay, there they all are!  I can't wait to here from you all!  Ciao for now!

--  Erin, Unfortunate Victim of Spring of Drowned Finch