On Mon, 4 Nov 1996 Krista Perry wrote:
: Okay, after dealing with more writer's block than I thought
: possible (*Never* NEVER underestimate the power of writer's
: block!) I've finally finished Part 8 of "Hearts of Ice." I
: really want this to be a good story, so unsheath your claws,
: everybody, and shred away! All C&C is welcome and appreciated.
You call this writers' block? I haven't written anything in a
*week*! (Well, actually I have, but that was just a fragment. I
haven't *posted* anything in a week.)
: <Krista dons padded, flame-resistant armor.> Okay, I'm ready.
: Have at it. ^_^
Uh oh! What did you do this time? Well, let's find out.
: ---------------------------------------------
: Hearts of Ice
: Part 8: Barriers
: by Krista Perry
: ---------------------------------------------
: Akane beamed, and fingered the silk of her sleeve. "Oh yes,
: thank you. It's beautiful. And very comfortable. Easy to move
: in." Her smile turned droll. "Although I don't know how long it
: will last. That rather persistent oni yesterday totally scorched
: the outfit I was wearing."
Wow. I see time has not been standing still in the Kami Plane
(anywhere else that would have been a moot point, but *there* you
never know. :) So she's fighting Oni now, eh? And with a katana
to boot!
: "Well, there's still a lot of room for improvement," said
: Akane. "I'm still light years away from beating sensei." <Heh.
: I *might* be able to give Ranma a good fight, though,> she
: thought, knowing better than to express thoughts about her fiance
: out loud in front of the Snow Woman. Yuki-onna wouldn't say
: anything, but whenever Ranma was mentioned, Akane could feel her
: friend grow cold and angry. She sighed, a sad smile on her face.
: <I wonder what he's doing. Wouldn't Ranma be surprised to see me
: now...>
Heh heh heh, Ranma, look out! From now on, mallets will be the
least of your fears. :)
: "Akane," the tengu groaned, "how is it that you are unable
: to grasp this simple, fundamental aspect of martial arts? You
: cannot possibly hope to defeat a demon without learning to focus
: your ki. You can't just *punch out* a demon, you know.
Well, if anyone could, it'd be her.
: Akane's eyes flew open at Masakazu's exclamation, and stared
: wide-eyed at the blade she held in front of her. It pulsed with
: blue energy. Akane let out a startled squawk and dropped the
: sword. It clattered to the floor, the ki energy dissipating
: instantly.
I take she has never seen _Star Wars_? :)
: She always worked in the same place, in the spot just
: between Akane's shoulder blades. When Akane had asked why, the
: Snow Woman simply replied that there was a certain strand of
: dragon blood, woven deep within the spell, that, if she could
: just get to it and remove it, would solve a lot of their
: problems.
She means *her* problem.
: "Don't worry, Akane," Yuki-onna said softly. "I'll get to
: that stubborn wisp of dragon blood. Then, when I remove it,
: everything will be fine."
Sure, Yuki-onna, sure. Just like Ranma miraculously fell in
love with Shampoo, once Akane was gone. It always works, doesn't
it?
: At last, he nodded. "Long ago. She fell in love with a
: young woodcutter, whose life she spared when he... when he should
: have frozen to death after he got lost in a snow storm. She gave
: up everything to be with him. She lived as a mortal by his side,
: and they had two children, both daughters, whom she loved more
: than life itself. But the man... betrayed her... and in doing
: so, broke the spell that allowed her to stay as a mortal in the
: mortal plane. She was separated from both him and her children.
: She never saw them again. Her daughters grew old and died
: without knowing her. Some nights..."
So this is where you tie in the original tale of Yuki-onna.
: <I can keep demons from reaching Yuki-san,> she thought
: sadly, as she slid back into her futon and stared at the ceiling,
: <but how can I help her with the ones that already have a hold on
: her?>
I hope Akane is able to help Yuki-onna before she gets too
desperate, trying to keep Akane to herself.
: Shampoo began to sob. "Aiya. It no work now. If you cast
: spell to bring Akane back now, things just like before."
If it were just that, it wouldn't be so terrible. The point is
that it *wouldn't* be like before. Some things you just can't take
back.
: Nabiki pulled out a small cellular phone from her jacket
: pocket. "Excuse me a moment," she said, lowering her hand and
: smiling with saccharine sweetness at Cologne and Shampoo. She
: flipped the phone open and held it to her ear. "Yes, I'm in...
: Well, it looks like Shampoo's about to try that Xi Fa Xiang Gao
: Shiatsu thing on me that she did to my sister about a year ago...
: Yes, you know what to do. If I come out with any part of my
: personality or memory altered in any way, I know you'll go
: straight to Ranma and play him that tape... No, I'm all right.
: But you should see the looks on their faces right now... Nope,
: not happy at *all*... Yes, you're right, I *should* have brought
: my camera... Okay. Talk to you later."
Hmmm. She spelled it out too clearly for my tastes. It would have
been even greater if she had just answered with something like
"Everything checks out okay. Yes, hold the release of the tape for
another hour. Bye, we'll speak in an hour, then." and let Cologne
figure it out.
: Cologne seethed. She longed to reach out and break the
: girls neck with a flick of her finger. All the numerous and
: divers ways to kill a person, both painlessly and... not so...
: flashed through her mind.
What, divers have techniques to painlessly or otherwise kill
people? I never thought you could even *do* martial arts in those
neoprene suits and with tanks on your back, too. On the other
hand, if you filed those plastic flippers on the feet to have a
*really sharp edge*...
: <What..?> he thought. Then he realized. The spell voices.
: The constant babble that he had forced to the back of his mind so
: that he could think clearly, keeping them there by sheer will,
: were gone.
:
: <Gone... How?> He didn't know whether to be glad or
: worried. Did that mean that the spell was broken? And if the
: spell was broken, then did that mean that Akane might have come
: back..?
I have a dark feeling that this is not exactly a positive sign.
: <The spell voices are gone?> thought Nabiki. <That's
: strange. But maybe Shampoo only wanted it to be temporary. I
: guess she realized having a husband who hears voices in his head
: isn't such a great thing.>
:D :D :D
: "One thing, Ranma?" said Nabiki coyly.
:
: "What is it? We're wasting time standing here!"
:
: She pointed at him. "You might want to consider getting
: dressed first."
Waahahahaha!
: "Yeah," said Ukyo, a little too cheerfully. "It would be a
: shame if something were to happen and the spell didn't work."
Aw, come on, Ucchan. You know you wouldn't like it to happen
*that* way. Not even Shampoo likes it much.
: Nabiki sighed. She allowed herself a small, self-indulgent
: smile as she felt Ranma's sleek muscles moving beneath his shirt
: as he ran. <Ah well,> she thought with a mental shrug. <There are
: worse ways to travel, I guess.>
Nice touch. Pity that he's already taken, eh, Nabiki...
<GASP> Ooohh, Krista, you wouldn't, would you? Yesss, this is
gonna be great!
: Mousse felt a slow half-smile grown on his face. No wonder
: the old ghoul had been so hesitant to tell anyone, *especially*
: Ranma, about the true nature of the spell. From what he could
: gather from the crone's mumbling, the spell's power was based on
: True Love; more specifically, the True Love that existed between
: Ranma and Akane. The power of that link, combined with the magic
: of the spell, would draw Akane from wherever she had been sent
: and bring her back home.
Oooh, you've seen that film too, haven't you? (Well, who hasn't?)
I love it.
: "R... Ranma?" Her voice was so soft, she thought she'd
: mouthed the word. But he seemed to hear her. Slowly, he opened
: his eyes and looked at her.
:
: His eyes! They were as blue and beautiful as she
: remembered, in spite of the pain that she saw reflected in them.
: An expression of indescribable happiness flickered across his
: face, fighting with the pain, and he slowly uncurled himself,
: reaching out a transparent arm towards her. "Akane..?"
: Akane began to sob quietly. "R-Ranma, *I'm* s-sorry..."
: Suddenly she remembered. The most important thing she wanted to
: tell him. "I'm sorry... I never told you that I l-love you..."
: She looked at his ghostly form anxiously, expecting some type of
: off-the-cuff response, but was surprised to see Ranma looking at
: her in shock, his pain forgotten even though he was still torn
: between two planes of existence.
:
: "Really?" he whispered.
: Ranma looked up, tears of agony and despair streaming from
: his eyes as he felt himself being pulled back to the Neko-hanten.
: "Akane," he choked through the pain. "W-where are you?"
:
: "I'm in the Kami plane, Ranma!" She hoped he could
: understand her, she was crying so hard. "I'm with Yuki-onna, the
: Snow Woman!"
:
: She could barely see the outline of his form. "I-I'll
: f-find you." His sobbing voice came to her as if from a great
: distance. "Akane..."
:
: And he was gone.
;_; <sniffle>
R-right now I'd give anything for a chance to strangle those idiots
who broke off the spell. <sniffle>
<pulls himself together> Okay. It was, of course, clear from the
beginning that the spell would fail - it was just too early for a
resolution. But this...
: Author's notes:
: 1) Please don't kill me.
How could I? If I did, you couldn't write the tearful reunion
scene to complement this heart-render. (If you finish this fic
*without* such a reunion... *then* you've got something to worry
about.)
: 4) So... Whaddya think? <Krista curls up into fetal position and
: flings hands protectively over head.>
Well, one thing's for sure: This fic alone has secured you a place
in the pantheon of immortal fanfic authors. I don't know if
*anyone* ever achieved that with their very first fic. You have my
undying admiration.
Sebastian