Interesting prologue, but I feel like we need to know a
little more about the characters... the school.   Not much
descriptions of them, so I am having a hard time picturing
them in my mind's eye.

Also... you know... this could be the beginning of a good
Ranma 1/2 / Shaman King fic... it'd be the first I've seen
if anyone did it.  I7m not quite up to writing a fanfic
yet I think... maybe as partners with someone, but not on
my own yet.  Either way the idea is kinda like that beast
that attacked and wiped everyone out was Asakura hao and
Spirit of Fire... why was the Nerima crew fighting him? 
If the Shaman fight is over what is Hao doing here?  As
can be assumed ni the anime, he didn't die at the end of
the fight...  These questions and more to be answered by
anyone who wants this fic idea...

J

 --- Troy Thomas <troythomas3@hotmail.com> からのメッセ
ージ：

http://ca.geocities.com/therealsilentnova/

_________________________________________________________________

MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months
FREE*  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus


-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: ffmlwcitbs.txt

White Clouds in the Blue Sky

Ranma 1/2 and its characters are the creation and
property of Rumiko 
Takahasi.

***

Prologue - Beast

"Don't die."

Ranma remembered those words, but not who said them.

He felt an ache in his chest, where... He opened his
eyes, running his hand 
over his chest. There was no wound. It wasn't sticky
with blood.

He pushed himself to his knees, looking down at his
body.

Had he just been dreaming? He pressed his hand to
his chest, and then 
brought it to before his eyes so he could look at
his palm.

There was no blood. Had it been a dream? Had he
dreamed everything?

He looked around. He found himself in a field,
covered over by flowers. So 
many colours.

There was a wind. Warm. Gentle.

And the sky. Blue. But not the blue he always
imagined it to be, but the 
real sky blue that always surprised him whenever he
looked up. He had always 
felt it should be softer than it truly was.

"You won't die. I won't let you."

Ranma remembered those words, but he couldn't
remember who said them.

There was a sudden, terrible ache in his head. He
grabbed it, screaming.

He then opened his eyes.

***

The night had been hard. Ranma barely remembered
getting to school, he'd 
been so tired.

He'd also been numb, but that was the way he usually
felt now. Numb and 
cold.

Bad dreams. He must've woken up at least three times
last night.

His hand ran over his chest. The scar almost felt
alive sometimes.

He said, after being prompted by the teacher, "My
name is Ranma Saotome. 
I've just moved here from Nerima." He was then
shuffled off to a desk beside 
a girl, behind a guy, both of who watched him with
curious fascination.

Thankfully, neither asked him any questions. And the
teacher didn't bother 
him.

He probably wouldn't have acted well if anything had
bothered him, because 
of the beast riding on his back.

It sapped his strength. Fed him dark, disturbing
thoughts. And he couldn't 
get rid of it.

It wasn't really a beast. It wasn't really there. It
didn't really exist.

But Ranma knew he wasn't himself lately. And he
wasn't feeling very strong 
anymore. And the beast was so heavy.

His mind... Sometimes he forgot things, and not just
the usual things he 
didn't bother to remember. It was anything,
everything. Even the past that 
he thought important was going, disintegrating into
dust in his now brittle 
mind.

'Falling apart. Turning into something not real.'
Ranma stared at his desk. 
He knew he should've really been listening to the
teacher. 'Fuck the 
teacher!' he thought. He hated.

There was something important he was missing.

He ran his hand over his chest. The scar now burned.

He noticed the time. He watched it crawl around on
the wall, laze, and do 
anything but move quickly.

Ranma wanted out of school. He didn't want to be
there. Nothing for him. He 
had nothing.

He felt the beast on his back roar at the time,
which he felt was on his 
desk now, sitting there, staring up at him. Maybe it
had on its face a 
mocking smile. Was it making faces? He wouldn't
disbelieve it.

Only if he'd been put near the window. Then he could
have something. But he 
was in the back corner, against two walls, and
beside a girl who kept 
looking at him. There was only the desk to look at!

And the beast nagged him. And the time, sitting on
his desk, staring up at 
him, laughed.

What did the beast nag about? There was something
important that it hated, 
that it wished for Ranma to get rid of.

But he thought it maybe had to do with the faintest
sound that he could 
hear, so deeply buried in the back of his mind. It
whispered to him, but he 
couldn't tell the words from a hiss. And he feared
that if he didn't listen 
for it, he'd forget about it. The words would
disappear, and, like the rest 
of his mind, turn into dust.

***

"Heard there was someone from Nerima comin'," said
the guy who been sitting 
in front of him earlier in the class. "So. You're
the only survivor? Was it 
some kind of monster? The newspapers didn't say
nothin', but word gets 
around. Heard it was a monster."

"Don't remember," said Ranma. He didn't. Things were
hazy, and lost. 
Especially that time. It had all been so confusing,
and now, looking back, 
he couldn't quite remember how everything had
happened, or the order of 
events, or anything of any coherence.

He again felt the scar on his chest. There was also
another on his back. It 
had gone right through him. He remembered that.
Right through, and it 
continued going, despite him. Oh, he'd remember
that. It was the only thing 
he truly remembered. And that was really the only
thing he wanted to forget.

Other kids gathered round, but Ranma barely even
noticed them because the 
second beast that lived in his mind had woke. It
frightened the beast on his 
back. The time creature, playing on the ground ahead
of him, stopped still, 
hoping to not be noticed.

=== message truncated ===


             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'