I've been quite encouraged by the feedback I've received over "Roses of
Shadow".  Truly, I appreciate each and every comment I receive.

I did want to publicly address one thread that's been pretty consistent
in all of the private C&C I've received:

I know that Ranma can cook.  He's probably done his share of cooking
over the campfire for years.  Doesn't mean, however, that he knows how
to operate a gas stove.  I had a similar experience with my first gas
stove.  I mean, I knew I had to light it, but I didn't know enough: I
turned it on, *then* started looking for a match, fumbled through a
drawer, finally found them on a shelf above the stove, lit one - and
while I didn't set the house on fire, it was still an impressive
display.

Now, after getting the stove lit, the mistake Ranma makes is leaving
Kuno in charge of the vegetables while he goes looking for non-lethal
spices.  Kuno, alas, knows zilch about cooking, and expects the food to
know how to prepare itself.  Thus, dinner is ruined.

I could have made this much clearer by making this a prose passage,
rather than bare dialogue.  I wanted to keep it like it was for
stylistic reasons.

However, at the same time, I can also try and tweak the dialogue a
little to make it clearer who it was that didn't know how to cook.  :)

Anyway, thanks again for the feedback, and keep it coming if you're of a
mind.  I took a lot of chances with this part and want to know how it
worked for you.

-Richard