Short, mostly concept story.  Wrote it tonight over the course of 2.5
hours, mostly while eating dinner and attempt to keep Nuku-Nuku (my grey
tabby kitten) from eating my dinner instead of hers (are cats SUPPOSED to
like pasta that much??)  So forgive any spelling / etc errors.  And any
C&C which doesn't need to go to the list, please send to
loki@dragoncat.net or ranma@eskimo.com, since I get considerably les
e-mail on those accounts and won't have to wade through FFML stuff to find
C&C on my story.  :)
------
RANMA NIBUNNOICHI: Reflections on a Life
by Jeremy "Loki" Blackman <ranma@eskimo.com> <loki@dragoncat.net>
                          <ryoga@tendo-dojo.ranma.net>
			  To cut down on spam and make sure I SEE your
			  letter, please send to either dragoncat.net
			  or eskimo.com if you have comments / critiques.
--------------------------------------------------
   "Hurry up, you tomboy."  Akane scowled at Ranma, who stuck his tongue
out in response.  "Well, you're the one who wanted to come to this festival,
not me.  And then you take forever."

   "It's a nice day, maybe I wanted to enjoy the weather," Akane said,
adding "...RANMA," in an almost threatening tone afterwards.

   Ranma held up his hands in a warding-off gesture.  "Geez, you don't have
to get so upset about it.  Just forget I said it," he grumbled.  Still, he
reflected, Akane was right.  It _was_ a nice day.  Too nice to stay angry at
Akane for long...not that _he_ was the one who started the fights, he told
himself...if Akane just wasn't such a tomboy, he'd almost lov...l...

   Ranma's train of thought was derailed as he walked face-first into a
streetlamp, earning him a curious glance from Akane.  Ranma ignored her and
continued walking, as lost in his thoughts as Ryouga ever was on the streets
of Tokyo.  Akane sighed and decided to ignore Ranma, if he was going to be
that way.  If he wasn't such an idiot, she told herself, he'd be a nice guy.
Sometimes he seemed nice, but then they'd always get into a fight.  Of
course, the fights were always Ranma's fault, she told herself.  If he just
would make more of an effort to pay attention to her feelings...it was like
he was afraid to get any closer to her for some reason...  Akane's thoughts
were interrupted by the object of her speculations.

   "Yo, Akane.  Earth to Akane.  We're here."  Akane looked where Ranma was
pointing and saw people standing near concession stands.  "You want to go in, 
or just stand here and watch?"  Akane silently fumed, and grabbed Ranma's
wrist, dragging him towards the festival entrance.  "Wha...hey, wait!"
Ranma's protests were ignored.

   "Let's go watch the dancers, Ranma," suggested Akane, in the same tone
that a drill sergeant 'suggests' that you run 5 miles on the track before
breakfast.  Ranma decided not to argue.  They walked silently down the rows
of stands selling flavored ice, bean cakes, ramen (which Ranma unconsciously
steered away from, just in case), and other things such as paper fans and
masks.  Each seemed oblivious to the crowds of other festival-goers
surrounding them, each concentrating only on ignoring the other.

   Shortly, they reached the dancers.  Dressed mostly in kimonos, but with a
few in casual clothes, the dancers were almost all just other festival-goers
who were joining in the traditional dances in the center of the festival.
Akane watched for a while and remarked, "I'd love to do that."

   Ranma glanced over at her skeptically.  "You, dance?  You're such a
klutz, you'd be lucky to make it three steps without falling down."  While
Akane fumed, Ranma casually looked away, folding his arms behind his head.
"Me, now...well, I bet I could do better than a lot of the dancers out
there.  After all, even though I'm really a guy," he brought his hands out
from behind his head and began to tick off items of a list on one hand, "I'm
still cuter, more graceful, be..."  The impact of a large wooden mallet on
his head ended his list abruptly, and the third item was left unknown.
Akane dragged the wobbling Ranma off away from the dancers, leaving a few
people who had been standing nearby staring perplexedly.

   Several yards away, Ranma regained his own balance, and rubbed his head.
"That hurt, y'know.  You really ARE a tomboy..."  Akane glared at him, and
Ranma looked around for a distraction.  He spotted a potential one.  "Hey,
look.  A Western-style mystic...that might be interesting.  Maybe they tell
fortunes."  He dragged Akane in that direction, without waiting for a
response.

   The interior of the mystic's tent was very dark, and Ranma and Akane
stood there for a moment until their eyes adjusted.  Behind a table sat a
young girl dressed in odd clothes, with a large glass ball in front of her.
Something about her seemed familiar, but neither Ranma nor Akane could put
their finger on it and it was too dark to get a good look at her.
"Irasshaimase!" the girl spoke.  Her accent made it clear she was really
Japanese, and her voice sounded familiar as well, but again, neither could
quite identify who she was.  "Do you wish your fortunes told?"

   Before Ranma could say anything, Akane spoke up.  "No.  I want to find
out if you can answer another question...why is he," she pointed at Ranma,
"such an idiot?"

   Ranma glared at Akane, but the effect was lost in the dark interior of 
the tent.  "Well, fine...then you tell me why she's such a tomboy!"

   The mystic nodded thoughtfully.  "Ah...difficult questions, but let us
see what answers the spirits can give us, shall we?"  Before Ranma or Akane
could respond, the mystic gestured them to chairs.  "Sit, sit."  Something
about her tone of voice convinced them, and they both sat down quietly.  The
mystic nodded.  "Good.  Now, look carefully at the ball...breathe
slowly...now I want you to go deeper inside yourselves than you have ever
gone before..."  She smiled slightly when she saw that Ranma and Akane both
had slipped into a trance.  "Well, that went faster than I expected.  Now to
give them a little guidance..."  She closed her own eyes, and the ball began
to glow gently.
---
   Ranma looked around in surprise.  He could have sworn that he was in the
mystic's tent, but now he found himself in a large room filled with mirrors.
As he walked past the mirrors, he could see reflections, but they were not
his own...however, they were too blurred for him to make out any detail.
Suddenly, one caught his eye.
   
   The reflection in the mirror was in perfect focus, mirroring his every
move.  But the image reflected in the mirror was that of a young girl with
long black hair and deep brown eyes, dressed in clothes from Japan's feudal
era.  Ranma blinked, and the girl blinked back.  Ranma looked down at
himself to make sure he was still himself, and found he was still male, and
still clad in his favorite red silk outfit.  The reflection in the mirror
looked down at itself curiously too.  Ranma reached up and saluted the
reflection jauntily, and the girl in the mirror returned the salute.

   Ranma looked at the mirror, unsure what to make of it.  He reached out to
touch it and started in shock as his hand started to go through the mirror.
He tried to pull his arm back, but couldn't get his hand free of the mirror.
As he stared, the girl in the mirror moved of her own accord...her hand
having popped out of the mirror when Ranma's went in.  She grabbed Ranma's
wrist, and pulled him forward into the mirror.
---
   Akane looked curiously around the room she now found herself in.  It was
filled with many different mirrors, but none gave back a reflection that
wasn't blurred in some way.  She looked around, but didn't see anyone else
there.  "Ranma...?" she called out hesitantly, then more firmly.  "Ranma?"

   After a pause in which no one answered, Akane called out with all the
volume she could muster.  "RANMA!!"  Perfect silence was still her only
response.  She sighed and began to wander around the room, hoping maybe one
of the mirrors concealed a door or something.  Suddenly, she turned,
noticing that one mirror was giving back a crisp, clear reflection.

   It wasn't her own reflection, though.  The image in the mirror staring
back at her was a young man, rather handsome, dressed as a samurai.  Akane
looked behind her, wondering where the young man was, but saw nothing.  In
the mirror, the young man looked behind himself as if searching for
something.  Akane waved hesitantly, the young man waved back.  Curious,
Akane reached forward to touch the mirror, and yelled in surprise when the
young man in the mirror suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling
her into the mirror.
---
   Keiko smiled happily as she walked along the road to the village.  It was
a beautiful sunny summer day, and her father, one of the local lord's
samurai, was back from court.  Keiko loved the times when her father could
be at home, the moreso because he felt that as his only child, Keiko should
have an upbringing in bushido, the code of the warrior.  Keiko had spent
many hours by her father's side learning to fight, and also learning the
ways of honor that all true samurai must follow.  Her father was a stern but
caring teacher, and she valued those times above almost any others she'd
experienced in the sixteen years of her life.

   Suddenly, she tensed, hearing something around the bend of the road up
ahead.  The sounds of a scuffle and someone's protests were audible.  Keiko
found a large stick and then peered around the corner of a rock.

   Just ahead, four young men were picking on a young boy.  "Hey, just give
us what you're carrying, and we'll let you go."

   The boy shook his head, though he was pale with fright.  "N-no.  I don't
have anything else, this is all my food and money.  If I give it to you,
h-how will I eat?"

   The young men looked at each other.  "That's not our affair.  Now hand it
over, or else..."  They advanced slowly on the boy, who backed up until he
was pressed against the rock Keiko was behind.  One sighed with false
regret.  "Well, I was really hoping not to have to do this..."  He drew his
fist back to deliver a blow to the cowering young boy, but the blow never
connected.

   The three young men stared in disbelief as the forth crumpled to the
ground under the force of Keiko's blow to his stomach with the stick.
"You...girl, you've just made a mistake you'll regret...if you live," one
said.  Keiko merely swung the stick at his middle, connecting with a loud
smack.  He bent over in pain, and looked at her with hate in his eyes.

   "Re..treat..." gasped the one Keiko had hit first.  "But you...will
regret this...girl..."  He got up and moved as fast as he could into the
woods by the side of the road, followed by the other three.

   Keiko turned her attention to the boy that the men had been threatening.
"Are you all right?"  The boy nodded somewhat hesitantly.  He looked to be
about twelve or thirteen.  Keiko gave him a friendly smile.  "My name's
Keiko, what's your name?"

   "G-genjo," the boy stammered out.  "T-thank you for helping me."
   
   Keiko smiled.  "It was nothing.  Where are you headed?"  Genjo looked
hesitant.  "Is something wrong?"

   Genjo sighed.  "I'm not going a-anywhere.  My village was b-burned down
in a feud between two lords, and my family killed.  So I'm looking for
somewhere to l-live now..."  He wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

   "Come back with me, maybe my father can help."  Genjo looked confused.
"He's one of the samurai of the lord of these lands," she explained.

   Genjo's eyes widened.  "A samurai...of course, that's why you knew how to
fight.  I'll come..."  Keiko smiled and motioned for Genjo to follow her on
the path she had been taking before.

   As they walked towards the village Keiko's family lived in, Genjo told
Keiko more about the things he'd experienced on the road, and the things
he'd seen done to others.  "I want to learn to be strong," he told Keiko,
"So no one pushes me around like that ever again."

   Though Keiko's father, Noriyuki, was warm and friendly to the young
wanderer, Genjo was very nervous at first, but gradually he became more at
ease and stopped sticking to close to Keiko.  While her father and Genjo
were having a discussion of bandit problems in the area - Genjo telling what
he'd seen on the road, and Noriyuki reflecting on possible solutions - Keiko
announced that she was going to go to the spring near the village to swim.
Genjo and Noriyuki nodded absently and continued their discussion, but
Keiko's mother told her to be sure to be back by dark.

   Keiko stretched as she walked to the spring.  On a summer day like this,
it was perfect weather for swimming.  The spring itself was in a grove of
trees just over a few hills from the village...set up perfectly so that it
was shielded from too much sunlight, but not shady enough to become frigid.
Some people said it was a gift from the gods to a warrior who once lived in
the area...Keiko didn't care who it was a gift from, it was a perfect place
to swim.

   She stripped off her clothes and sank down into the cool water, letting
it wash away sweat and dust of the hot day.  She closed her eyes and let
herself sink so only her head was above the water.  It was so peaceful here,
surrounded only by the sun, the trees, the rippling water, the sound of
birds in the trees, the sound of bandits in the bushes, the...

   Keiko suddenly tensed, aware that she was completely naked in the middle
of a spring with no weapon handy.  Before she could move to get out of the
spring and to hiding, the four men from earlier crashed through the brush
and into the clearing.

   One spotted her in the spring, where she had begun to stand, and eyed her
chest appreciatively.  "Well," he commented.  "Looks like the little bitch
IS a girl after all.  I wasn't sure after the way she tried to fight us."
Keiko turned red, partly from fury and partly from embarassment at being
looked at that way, and covered her chest, ducking back under the water so
only her head was above.

   Another one leered at Keiko.  "Maybe we can have some fun with her before
we kill her, hm?"  He then winced, and Keiko recognized him as the second
man she'd hit with the stick.  She must have cracked one of his ribs, she
realized.

   "Oh, fine," the first man said.  "You can have some fun with her, Ataru,
but be sure to save some for the rest of us."  They all laughed and leered
at Keiko some more, who by now was rather frightened.  Men bullying a boy
she knew how to deal with...but this situation wasn't covered in her
lessons.

   The laughter was suddenly interrupted by a new voice.  "If you want her,
you'll have to go through me."  A boy about her own age stepped into the
clearing, brandishing a wakizashi.  "Four men against one unarmed girl?
What sort of men are you?"

   "Who are you?" roared the one called Ataru.  "Get out of our way!"  The
newcomer rushed at him, and past him.  Ataru blinked.  "You missed me."  The
newcomer just looked at him.  Ataru suddenly noticed that his shirt was
hanging open, cut completely down the front cleanly...but there was not a
scratch underneath.  He paled slightly.

   "I don't miss," the newcomer informed Ataru.  "And I will aim for
something more vital than your shirt next time.  Perhaps something you seem
overly fond of..."  He glanced speculatively down towards Ataru's crotch,
fingering his sword.  Ataru and the three other bandits all turned
completely white, and went crashing off into the trees.

   He glanced back towards Keiko, and reddened.  "I'll, ah...move over this
way to let you dress."  He shuffled off out of the clearing rather rapidly.
Keiko climbed quickly out of the spring and dressed herself, then walked
back towards the path, where she found the young boy.

   "Thank you very much," she said.  "I wasn't sure what I would have done."
   
   The boy smiled.  "It was my pleasure.  My name is Hiroshi, pleased to
meet you."  He bowed to Keiko.

   Keiko smiled at his infectious good nature.  "My name is Keiko, pleased
to meet you."

   Hiroshi turned slightly red.  "I, er, I know."  Keiko looked at him, and
he turned redder.  "Well, I just, uhm, I was in the area and I saw you save
that boy from those jerks earlier, and I thought you were kinda cute and so
I followed you to see where you live...I didn't follow you into the forest
when I realized you were going to swim, but when I saw those four go in, I
followed them and..."  He trailed off.

   Keiko blinked, unsure of how to take this.  "Well, you're very good with
that sword."

   Hiroshi turned redder.  "I'm not as good as I can be.  I only use the
wakizashi because I'm not a full samurai...I need to find another samurai to
train under."  He looked over at Keiko hopefully.  "Do you think that maybe
your father would know of someone...?"

   She smiled.  "Let's go find out."
---
   Noriyuki was pleased to meet this second guest as well, the moreso to
learn that Hiroshi had just saved Keiko.  When Hiroshi asked about samurai
who might be willing to train him, Noriyuki offered to train Hiroshi
himself.  After a few times of turning down the offer to be polite, Hiroshi
gladly accepted it.  Over the next few weeks, Genjo proved to be helpful as
well, acting almost like the younger brother that Keiko never had...helping
around the house and generally fitting into the village quite well.  Soon,
no one could think of not having him there, and he became a member of the
family by default.

   As the years passed, Hiroshi became a true master swordsman.  He also
married Keiko, and became one of the most trusted retainers of the local lord.
Genjo helped nurse Noriyuki through his latter years when his vitality had
been lost, and when he passed away, he grieved with Keiko as though he had
lost his own father.  In a way, he had...Noriyuki was a parent to him for
many years.  In fact, as Keiko remarked, Genjo had carried out his dream to
become strong very well...his tears over Noriyuki's passing were the first
time she'd seen him cry openly since she rescued him.

   For years, life went well.  Then a feud broke out between their lord 
and a neighboring lord...
---
   The messenger rode up to the front of Keiko and Hiroshi's house, out of
energy and pale.  By the time he was led in to see Keiko, he had a bit of
his energy back, but he was still very pale.  And what he had to say turned
Keiko every bit as pale.

   "The battle went well until General Taodo betrayed us...then the tide
turned and Lord Mifune was slain.  I...the first thing Taodo did when he
turned was use the element of surprise to slay Lord Hiroshi...he knew that
otherwise Lord Hiroshi could best him and protect our lord.  I'm sorry, Lady
Keiko..."  He bowed his head, and reverently presented Keiko with a wrapped
bundle.  "Lord Hiroshi's swords.  I saved them from the battlefield."

   Keiko stared at the swords silently, refusing to shed the tears gathering
in her eyes.  "I...thank you for bringing me the news as quickly as you
could.  I...I need to be alone now."  Keiko got up as if in a trance and
walked slowly to her sitting room.

   Once alone inside the room, she finally allowed the tears to flow freely.
"Whatever gods listen up there, why must this be?  Why must the one I love
be taken from me?"  No answer was forthcoming.  "I wish I had been born a
man, so that I could defend those I loved, or at least avenge them if the
worst happened!"  Again, silence.  If the gods heard Keiko, they did not see
fit to reply.

   Tears still running from her eyes, Keiko reverently placed Hiroshi's
katana and wakizashi on a table, being careful not to remove them from the
cloth they were wrapped in.  She then took the tanto and wrapped the handle
in a piece of paper, looking down thoughtfully at the shortest of a
samurai's swords, and the only one a woman was allowed to touch.

   At that moment, Genjo burst into the room, and cried out as he saw Keiko
with the tanto.  "Keiko, no!  You can't..." he broke off as Keiko looked up
at him and he saw the look of utter despair and hopelessness in her eyes.

   "Genjo...you've been like a brother to me.  Don't make me die with
disgrace.  Please...serve as my second?"  She never relaxed her vise-like
grip on the tanto.

   Genjo turned paler, at the thought of being the one who would have to
deliver the blow to take off Keiko's head if she could complete the ritual
cuts demanded in seppuku.  "I..."  Once again, he saw the look in Keiko's
eyes, and knew that even if he could prevent her from killing herself today,
her soul had already died with Hiroshi.  "I would be honored," he finished,
bowing his head in acceptance of the inevitable.

   Keiko nodded, and Genjo took Hiroshi's katana - a gift from Noriyuki so
many years ago - from the table, knowing that both Hiroshi and Keiko would
want this sword and no other to be used.  He then took up his position
behind Keiko, with the sword ready.

   Keiko bowed her head in determination, and plunged the tanto deep into
her abdomen.  Genjo winced but forced himself to watch so he would know the
moment that Keiko had completed the ritual cuts so that she would suffer as
little as possible before he gave her the final blow.

   For Keiko, the world exploded into pain.  Seppuku restores and ensures
one's honor because the cuts you make are some of the most painful and
difficult ones possible...the reason a second is needed so that as soon as
you've restored honor, your head can be taken off so you don't die slowly
from the cuts.  Keiko brought her entire will to bear against this pain and
pushed it back long enough to complete all but the final cut.

   Genjo watched nervously as Keiko halted, unable to complete the final
cut.  He knew that she must be in excruciating pain, and he also knew that
if he cut off her head to put her out of her agony before she completed the
cuts, she would be forever dishonored.  He turned his eyes heavenward, and
silently prayed.  Whichever god is watching over her, he asked, please give
her the strength to complete this.

   Keiko finally managed to tap a final burst of willpower, and bring the
tanto up for the final cut, completing the ritual.  She looked back at Genjo.

   Genjo looked at Keiko's eyes...clear and lucid despite the pain clouding
her face, and nodded.  As he brought back the sword for the final blow, she
mouthed the words, "Good bye" to him...and then the katana connected.
Noriyuki had given Genjo some training during the years they spent together,
and it served him in good stead.  Though he was jarred by the shock of the
sword hitting bone, Hiroshi had kept it sharp and it went cleanly through
Keiko's neck, ending her agony.  As Keiko was released from this world,
Genjo dropped the sword and fell to the floor, crying for the second time
since Keiko had rescued him so long ago.
---
   Keiko's spirit flew free once more, and foriegn thoughts began to intrude
on her consciousness.  For the first time since being reborn, the soul was
aware of both its current life and a past one.

   "So," it thought, "someone did listen to my last plea.  And this
time, it's my place to protect Hiroshi."

   "Akane," corrected the part of the soul that in the present was known as
Ranma Saotome.

   "Akane," mused the part of the soul that had been known as Keiko in times
past.  "Yes..."

   "That's why I have trouble getting close to Akane...I don't want to lose
her again," the Ranma portion of the soul realized.

   Quietly, the Keiko portion of the soul said, "Don't let another chance
slip by...learn to get along."

   Sensing Keiko's departure, Ranma tried to call her back.
   
   "I won't ever really be gone...after all, you are me."
   
   "But what about Genjo?  What happened to him?"
   
   Keiko replied, "Some things are not for us to know.  I don't know what
happened after I died.  Now I must go..."
   
   Then Ranma opened his eyes and found himself back in the mystic's tent at
the festival.  Beside him, Akane slowly opened her eyes and gazed around as
if disoriented.

   "Did you find the answers you seek?" the mystic asked, startling Ranma
and Akane both.  Both nodded, slowly at first, and then more rapidly.  "Oh,
good.  Now, do you want me to tell a fortune or something?"  Ranma and Akane
both shook their heads rapidly.

   "Thanksit'sbeenfungottago,byenow!" Ranma exclaimed in one breath,
grabbing Akane and running out of the tent.  "Whew...and I thought Cologne
had some frightening tricks."

   Akane looked up at Ranma, shivering as if she was cold.  "I...Ranma, I'd
really like to go dancing right now."

   "A klutz like you?  Why?"  As soon as he said it, Ranma knew he shouldn't
have.  Get a mitt and catch a clue, his mind said.  She just lived through
Hiroshi's death in battle, of course she wants to do something to cheer
herself up.

   As Akane started to glare at Ranma, he turned to her and made an
apologetic bow.  "I...I shouldn't have said that, Akane.  I'm sorry."  Akane
blinked and nodded.  "Let's go dancing, if that's what you want."  He took
Akane's arm and they headed over towards the dancing.

   As they walked away from the mystic's tent, Ranma reflected whoever said
that actions speak louder than words wasn't thinking of two little words -
I'm sorry - spoken with feeling behind them.  Or of three other little words
which would have to wait until later.  But he knew that now he would
overcome the barrier Akane and he had built between them.  After all, if
fate had given them a second chance, he ought not to throw it away.

   The mystic, standing just outside her tent, smiled as Akane and Ranma
walked away, and reached up to take off her headscarf.  As she shook her
head to free the hair that had been held up, Kasumi Tendo smiled.  Things
had worked out perfectly, just as she and Noriyuki had planned.  She turned
and went back into the tent, and smiled at the ghost sitting on the table.

   "Well, they have a way to go, but they're on the right road now," she
said with a smile.  "Thanks for your help, Noriyuki.  I couldn't have done
it without you."

   Noriyuki smiled.  "In any life, you're stronger than you appear, Genjo.
You never cease to amaze me."

   Kasumi gave a small laugh.  "I wonder what Father and the others would
think if they knew what I really did with all my free time.  I wouldn't be
able to protect them or make sure those two stay on track if they knew I was
really a mage.  I'll stick with the kind, but somewhat naive eldest sister
role..."  She suddenly cocked her head.  "Oh, dear."

   Noriyuki looked at her.  "What?  Is it some sort of magical attack?"
Kasumi shook her head.  "Supernatural beast nearby?"  Again, she shook her
head.  "Then what is it?"

   Kasumi smiled.  "I just realized, I have to get home and finish making
dinner for Father and Nabiki..."

--------------------------------------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
  Originally, I had Ranma and Akane using the speech patterns of their
  original-language versions, that being the version of Ranma I'm more
  familiar with and was first introduced to.  However, it struck me that
  a) as 'Ranma' and 'Akane' are not the main characters of the story, and
  b) the majority of fanfic readers out there are probably quite used to
  the Viz versions by now, it wasn't worth my while to use the Japanese
  speech styles and then annotate.  I presume the readers will forgive me.
  
  I also know in the 'historical' setting, there are some things that
  don't quite match up with actual feudal Japan...I could probably tell
  you most of the errors myself, but this is FICTION, right?  I can take
  a few liberties. ;)

  As for the bit about Kasumi being a mage...well, there's been a whole 
  rash of what-DOES-Kasumi-do-with-her-free-time-ANYWAY? stories and I
  happened to be glancing through my archive of fiction when I was wondering
  what might have happened to Genjo, and as I was pondering that, I came 
  across the directory of Kasumi stuff.  That and the thought that if
  Keiko and Hiroshi had been reincarnated in this time, why couldn't Genjo
  have been as well, led to that story element.
  
  This is somewhat shorter than I intended, but it's just an idea I was
  toying with.  Maybe if people think it's a worthwhile idea, I could 
  expand it out more...this was just written in an evening of boredom,
  and is intended more as a concept piece than anything else in its
  present form.  If any other writer out there is interested in expanding
  it, talk to me.  I have other things I really should work on for
  writing (like finishing Ta'veren 1/2 chapter 4, working on an original
  storyline series concept I had, etc...)

  -- Loki <loki@dragoncat.net>