Ryoga ½
by George Masologites
guilds@mail.serve.com
© 6/28/1996  Hunter Kid Publishing  All Rights Reserved



          Introduction

    Ah, I see you have chosen once again to return to the realms of Ranma
½.  What's that?  Yeah, I said Ranma...oh, the title.  I had a notion the
other day when I was locked inside on a rainy day watching my old TV Series
#4 tape when the thought occurred to me...remember how Ryoga kept venting
his rage on Ranma, saying how Ranma had ruined his life?  I'm sort of
giving Ryoga a chance at reclaiming his life here.  I decided to make a
fanfic based on this...
    What if Ryoga turned into a girl rather than a pig?
    I suppose the title sort of gave it away.  I don't have any definite
plans for this story, so bear with me.  I'm just hoping this flows as
smooth as my writing usually tends to.  
    I was originally planning to make this story based on a completely
different plot - Shampoo runs off to China, Ranma and Company race after
her, they all end up at Jusenkyo, Ryoga gets a change, and the rest is
history.
    Anyway, I'll just kind of naturally assume that this topic's been used
about ten times before since Ranma is Ranma, after all, and the plot can
only stretch out so far before you wind up with something either completely
stupid or a story that's not Ranma ½ in the least.  I came up against this
little problem when I was in the process of writing (which, actually, I
still am, even if I have kinda put it to sleep while I write this one) my
other, longer, fanfic, called Wanderlings, which I have yet to release.  
    For me, it's hard not to make the plot get too deep or too dark.  I
guess its kind of a trademark you get from writing medieval fantasy too
long.  Well, I'm quickly running out of things to say here, so let me begin...



            Prologue

            Prologue

   Tellings of the Guide  

    It was raining.  A steady, soft spray of raindrops fell from the clouds
above and landed on the earth, seeping into the dirt contentedly.  Though
the area had, by the look of it, had plenty of rain lately, the trees and
plants gratefully spread their leaves to welcome the falling nourishment.
    In this remote forest, a lone traveler had set up a thick tent and was
lying in it, a pained expression on his face.  No, not just pained...it was
also relieved.  
    The man inside the tent set his heavy backpack off to the side and lay
down, shivering.  He wiped his brow in relief and grinned to himself.
    "Barely avoided that one," he said softly to no one in particular, an
ironic smile forming on his forlorn face.  
    The traveler wore a orange and black bandanna tied across his forehead,
partially hidden under a head of thick, unruly black hair.  His yellowish
sweater combined with his dark green hued pants provided perfect
camouflage...that is, if he had been in a desert and a forest at the same
time.  
    Even though his facial features had a sort of rugged handsomeness to
them, he had a perpetual angry look, a scowl of spite and disgust that was
always there.
    Named Ryoga Hibiki, this young man was as permanently lost as he was
angry.  Perhaps the unhappiness came from being lost all the time...but no,
that wasn't it.  This seemed to lie somehow deeper.
    Ryoga sighed dismally.  "Why can't I ever find where I'm going?"  He
was talking to himself, obviously, and not expecting an answer to pop out
of thin air.  
    It did, after a fashion.  A voice came into his head.  -Perhaps, Ryoga,
it is because you do not want to go where you think you do.  Therefore, you
will end up lost.-
    The young man sat up, an alarmed expression on his face that was
quickly eliminated by his trained fighting senses.  "Who's there?"
    -Only me, Ryoga.  Think of me as your inner guidance.-
    "How nice,"  Ryoga responded curtly to the voice inside his head.  "I
don't suppose you'd be so nice as to 'guide' me to the Tendo Dojo?"
    The voice in his head seemed to laugh good-naturedly.  -No, no,
Ryoga-san, not that kind of guidance, I'm more like your conscience.-       
    "Oh.  Would you happen to have a better sense of direction than me?"
    The voice chuckled.  -I can see you're puzzled.  No surprise to me,
really.  In most people's lifetimes, they never actually get the chance to
talk to their consciences.-      
    "And I do.  I'm honored."
    -I have chosen to speak with you for several reasons.  Firstly and most
importantly, its because your...infatuation with some Akane Tendo is
driving you to think suicidal thoughts.-  
    Ryoga protested.  "Hey, wait a second, here, pal.  My love" he stressed
the word "for Akane is not driving me to suicide.  I'm perfectly healthy."
    -No, you aren't.-
    "Yes, I am!"  He tried to hold back a laugh.  Arguing with a voice
inside his skull.  People would think he was nuts.  "Hell, I can break down
a-"
    The voice cut him off.  -I'm not talking about physical strength,
Ryoga-san.  The illness I am referring to is of the mind.  The mind, Ryoga.
 Its inside your head, just like me.  An obsession with this Akane.
Obsessions inescapably lead to suicide.-  
    "You're crazy."
    -Actually, no, I'm not.  But you, my good Ryoga, will soon be if you
don't heed my advice.-
    Ryoga snorted derisively.  "Advice, huh?  I haven't heard a peep of
advice from you yet, conscience-boy."
    He could almost see the voice grin.  -You've just implied that you want
it.  Don't deny it, Ryoga-san.-  It paused for a moment, then resumed.
-But before I offer it to you, I'm going to give you...hm.  Think of it as
kind of a list of your shortcomings.-
    "Just what I've always wanted,"  Ryoga grunted sarcastically.  "A guide
that would hand me a list of my faults."  
    He gave a deep sigh and waited submissively.  
    -That's more like it,- the voice resumed.  -Another of your chief
problems is you're chasing some poor fellow around the world trying to beat
the tar out of him.  Apparently Ranma Saotome has angered you greatly for
cursing you.  However, you cannot be angry at him forever...-
    Ryoga promptly lost his short-fused temper.  "Want to bet?"  He raged.
"He's the cause of my problems!  Not just some of them, all of them!  He's
the reason Akane doesn't see the love that I offer her.  He's the reason
that I turn into a pig.  'P-Chan'," he said mockingly.  "I'm Akane's
precious pet piggy.  All I'll probably ever get to be to her.  And why?
Because of that Ranma Saotome!"  He seethed with anger.  "And you claim
that I've got no right to be angry."
    His conscience chuckled, a strange feeling, as it was inside his head.
-Oh, I never said that.  You've a right to be angry, alright, but not until
the end of time.  Don't you understand, Ryoga-san?  It's not Ranma's fault
that Akane doesn't love you.  She just doesn't.  She thinks of you as a
friend, Ryoga.  Not her boyfriend, and I heartily doubt that this would
change if Ranma wasn't engaged to her.-
    Before Ryoga could protest, the voice went on.  -Your next major
problem is that you turn into a pig.  This rather hampers your status in
others' eyes.  Therefore, the logical step is to find a cure for it.-
    "As if I haven't been trying, right?"  He asked scornfully.  "I've
searched high and low.  There just isn't a cure, conscience-boy.  Not
there.  None.  Zip.  Zero.  Null.  Void."
    -That,- the voice sounded almost mocking, -is where you are wrong.
There has been a simple cure around for as long as you know, and you've not
yet found it.-
    "Well, for heaven's sake, tell me!"
    --It's not Jusenkyo.-
    "Dammit, I know it's not Jusenkyo!  That's where I got cursed!  I want
to know where the cure is!"
    Ryoga could picture his conscience shrugging.  -Like I said, Ryoga-san,
it's not Jusenkyo.  That's the name of the place.  Not Jusenkyo.  Remember
exactly what Jusenkyo looked like?-
    "Um...yeah, I think so.  Why?"
    -Well, in that particularly mist-covered spot there's a cavern leading
to an underground lake.  It seemed to pause for dramatic effect.  That's
what Not Jusenkyo is.  The opposite of the Cursed Springs.  It's the
Blessed Lake.  The Spring of Life.  The Pool of Wishes.- 
    "Wishes?"
    -There, you will be met by the spirit of the Blessed Lake.  You get to
make a wish there.  Then you jump in.  And, ta-da, your wish is fulfilled.
Ryoga, all you have to do is wish for your curse to be removed.  It
stopped, then added, Oh yes, Ryoga-san.  The Blessed Lake's very precise.
Try not to word your wish in a way that it can backfire on you, or produce
some disastrous result.-
    "Care to build on that a little?"
    -Suppose you wished that you were the man that Akane loved.  You're
thinking 'oh yes, now she will be mine, ha ha ha' and all that nonsense.
You jump in, and what's happened?  You've turned into Ranma Saotome, the
man who Akane loves.  It's backfired on you.  You throw a fit.  And its
tough beans for you.-
    "I see.  I'll have to be very careful.  Before you go disappear to
wherever your conscience usually goes, would you mind answering a question?
    -No problem, Ryoga-san.-
    "Why did you pick now to show up?"
    -I was saving that for a surprise.  When the rain clears, you'll find
that you've wandered into a most interesting place.  And I've no idea of
how you managed to cross the ocean without noticing it.-
    With that, the voice faded away and holed itself up again.
    "A 'most interesting place', eh?"  He scratched his head in puzzlement.
 "I wonder where I am..."
    
    The next morning, the storm had blown itself out, and Ryoga was pleased
to note that he was still dry and human.  
    He cautiously stepped outside the tent and boggled his eyes in
amazement.  "So this's what he meant..."  
    Ryoga had wound up in the valley of Jusenkyo.      
    Which meant that he was also within sight of his cure.  
    He started to race across the valley in delight, but stopped dead in
his tracks.  "Whoa, hold on there, Ryoga," he said to himself.  "Think.
That's why you get in so many messes.  Use your head!  Why not jump into
the Spring of the Drowned Man and see if that works?"
    Congratulating himself on his quick mindedness, he dashed over to where
he knew the training ground was.  He was pleased to note that he had
arrived at the bamboo poles and small springs without losing his way.  
    He cursed at himself in every possible way.  "You numbskull!"  He
berated himself.  "You don't know which one it is!"
    It's no problem, he told himself.  "Hm."  He knew that it was a
problem.  Then an answer came to him.  Just dive in any spring.  If it
didn't work, too bad.  If it did, then all he had to do was keep trying.
    He removed his travel-stained yellow sweater and calmly dove into the
nearest pool.  He waited for that feel of the pool working its magic on
him, like last time...
    Ryoga was started to find that nothing happened.  He didn't change into
a pig.  Was this the right spring...?
    Filled with hope, but feeling that he had to test it, he dove into the
next spring...nothing.  "Damn," he swore as he clambered out of the spring.
    "But why aren't I the pig...?"  He felt the water again gingerly.
"Oh."  The water wasn't exactly warm, but it wasn't cold enough to change
his form, either.
    He stood up and looked around, trying to find the thick mist that his
guide had...there!  He saw it in the distance and made a mad dash for it.  
    As he reached it, he noted the strange sensation of falling.  Fast.  
    He landed with a loud thump on a hard packed dirt floor and realized
with a start that he had made it.  This was the Blessed Lake.  The Spring
of Life, where he could be cured...

of Life, where he could be cured...

          -----------------------
    And thus ends my little prologue.  Shoulda been a chapter, but it was
so short, I changed it into a prologue.  And yes, I know, prologues are
supposed to deal with lore and all that...  I should have a few more out in
not too long. I'm hard at work here pounding on the keyboard.  All comments
and criticisms go to guilds@mail.serve.com.  Hardly needing to be said, I
appreciate anything that you might have to say about my work, as almost
every author does.  Ja ne!