China. A country that was vast in terms of geographical size and population
and a source of all her deepest desires, problems, and troubles mould into
one. Siao Long looked around from where she was standing. To the left of
her, stretch an impposible length of greenery, as far as the eyes can see.
To the front, the place where the source of her curse and desire came true;
the pools of Jyusenkyo. Of course, she hadn't decided to get herself cursed
in the first place. It was forced upon her, or use to be him, by the one
person that she had always liked; Ranma. Ranma, who everybody she knew said
that he was nothing but trouble. Ranma, a supposed to be fictional
character that came one day to her dwellings and splashed her TWICE with
the Nyannichuan. 

She knew then that life for her had just been tossed out of the window.
Granted, deep within her heart, she had wished that she was born female but
there still was a majority of her pyshce that was horrified at what had
happened to her. After all, she had been a he for twenty years of her life.
Such deep upbringing(?) could not be shook off easily. Sighing again, she
walked down the cliff; her destination, the hut where the guide lived. Her
family had not took the news well. She was very nearly disowned by her own
father but her mother had, thank Kuan Yin, dissuaded him. Despite that, her
father had from that day refused to acknowlege her presence as if she
doesn't exist. Siao Long, needless to say, was heartbroken. She could stand
anything; himuliation, pain, death but her family. They were the most
important people in her life. Without them, she had nothing to live for.
That was why she was here. In a desperate hope that there was a cure. Siao
Long suddenly found herself at the door. Hestitating, but finally gathering
enough courage, she knocked once, twice, thrice in quick succession. A
sound of scuttling can be heard from the inside. Stepping back a step, she
waited for the door to open. A face soon poked out from the sudden
rectangular space where the door used to be.

	'Excuse me, good host. My name is Siao Long and I humbly request knowledge
which could be important to me', Siao Long said, in Mandarin.

The guide, blinked, once, twice and stopped himself.

	'Ohhh....I am sorry for my apparent rudeness. You remind me of someone.
Please come in', he replied, stepping out of the way for her to enter.

Siao Long complied and stepped into his threshold. A sparse but homely
surrounding greeted her eyes.

	'Please seat down' the guide pulled out a seat for her 'Would you like
some tea?'

	'Oh yes!!! Ooops....I am sorry for my outburst. It is just that I haven't
drank one for a long time. I missed it'

The guide chuckled, knowing well the feeling. He went to a room to the left
of where she was and came out a while later with two hot cups of tea.

	'The tea is 'Tiea Kuan Yin'. I hope you like it', the guide said handing
Siao Long the cup.

Siao Long on her part, nodded her head vigorously. Blowing the tea gently
to cool the hot liquid, she tentatively brought it up to her lips and
sipped it quickly.

	'Hmmmmm.....'

The guide chuckled again at her vocal expression and proceed to drink his
tea in the same manner. They sat in silence for a few moments, tradition
requiring this to be so. Finally, Siao Long set down the cup on the table
and looked hopefully at the guide. Seeing this, the guide also set his cup
down and look at her curiously.

	'Miss, what possess you to come out to this far remote to ask a humble
human like me when it could possibly be answered by one more educated than
me?'

	'I would agree with you, sir, but this is a special case. You see, I am
cursed.'

	'Cursed?' he arched his eyebrow 'Please, pray tell.'

Siao Long took a few moments to gather herself. Feeling less nervous, she
proceed to tell that she was originally a boy. She had been cursed nearly a
year ago by another boy named Ranma, permanently. The guide arched his
other eyebrow at this. She continued to explain that she was not from this
reality. Where she was, anything in this reality was actually the work of a
famous author. How she came here was actually by luck. When Ranma finally
left, he forgot to pick up a shard of the Nanban mirror that had been part
of a whole. It had resulted from the struggle between Ranma and her. She
finally finished by telling the guide her journey in the Ranma world until
now. The guide sat in silence for a few moments more, digesting the news.
Finally he looked up at her.

	'I am really sorry to hear such misfortune. More so, as I am also a
bringer of bad tidings. You must be searching for a cure to this curse.
Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be continued....

Author notes:

Well, this is my response to the 'One Hour Challenge'. This fic is a
possible part of a Revengefic that I am considering, as I am thinking about
contributing to the 'Revenge War'. 'cause I am new to that I assume that I
need to write a piece explaining how I got cursed. Can't believe how little
I wrote in a space of one hour though. Looking at all the authors' work
made me wince. Ah well, anyway, C&c's welcome. It would be nice to hear,
for once, from the majority how this fic is....

MT
martin.tie@virgin.net