Nabiki@pgh.nauticom.net *******************************
-Hugs are good for you!********************************
-BEWARE THE M-CHAN!************************************
*******************************************************

Anyway, here's my first fanfic.****WARNING: This is not a happy fanfic, nor
does it pretend to be.***** well, if it sucks, let me know.
                               -M.Miner
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               "And in this World is but a Dream"
                 ****A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction****
                   *(insert legal blah here)*
              *(insert standard "don't hurt me" here)*
                   *(insert bagel here ^_^)*
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   Ranma looks around his surroundings. Something here is NOT right... 

His brain runs in confused loops and circles, trying to piece together 

broken fragments. Pain. Something to do with pain. He squints, trying to 

make out where he is. Some place dark. Ranma gropes about. He feels his 

hand rest on something soft and smooth. It is still dark, but he can

see now. In front of him are two candles and a straw mat. His hands lay on 

the face of the occupant. Cold like wax, yet eerily real. Ranma stares at 

the person in front of him. He traces the lines of a powerful jaw with 

his fingers. The eyes are icy blue, open and looking at eternity. A 

thought half forms in his mind but quickly dissipates. Impossible. The 

person before Ranma is himself.

*****


  Nabiki picks up a camera and fills a bucket with some water. She takes 

the kettle that she had heated and sets it on the floor. After loading 

her film, she picks everything up and heads toward Ranma's room. "Kuno 

will pay good money for these." She smiles as she reaches Ranma's door 

and slides it gently open. Nabiki looks in shock at what lies before her. 

She had expected to see Ranma sleeping, but in front of her lies Ranma in 

a pool of blood. His tank top is slashed and stained, and he is very 

still. Nabiki backs away in terror. She stops in the hall, and screams...

and screams.. and screams...

  
  What seems like an eternity later, the rest of the family rush out into 

the hall. Soun and Genma dash upstairs from their late night shogi. Nabiki 

stands in the hall screaming. She manages to point at Ranma's room before 

passing out in Kasumi's arms. Genma and Soun take a peek inside. Soun 

starts crying his eyes out, and Genma feels very sick to his 

panda-stomach. Kasumi serves tea. Akane, who is holding Nabiki, calls to 

the two fathers. "Is something wrong? Dad? Mr. Saotome? Hello?!?"


*****

(zoom up to the body)

     Laying in the dim light is Ranma. The left side of his chest is 

slashed three times. Blood is slowly drying in clumps on the floor. His 

eyes are open, but there is no life to them. Next to his body lays one of 

Akane's training weights. 

*****

   Ranma tries to yell. His vocal cords strain as terror grips him. 

Nothing comes out, the silence is horrible. It cuts into Ranma like a 

knife. Almost afraid to see, he reaches upward to check his pulse. His 

skin is warm and his pulse strong. Something is still wrong. Pain faintly 

registers in his mind. Ranma looks down at a sliced shirt caked with 

dried blood. Under the slices, his skin looks perfectly healthy. He looks 

around again. Surrounding him is a thin mist. The only solid thing near 

is the body before him. A voice drifts through the air wordlessly 

beckoning him to it. The air in the area grows suddenly old and stale.

The ground becomes hard and marble-like beneath Ranma's bare feet. To his 

right, a girl clothed in long robes emerges. She speaks without moving 

her lips. "This way, sir."

*****
END PART 1
*****

I hate this writing style but it's a bit too late to 
switch. Oh well. At 
least I was able to get this baka thing to work ^_^ (WAHHH I want a 
better modem!) bye


               -Marla Miner