DYNASTY - PROLOGUE
By Sydney Kyle <jantzen77@hotmail.com>
Author's notes: I have no idea what happened on the last episode of the
Ranma 1/2 anime series or the last installment of the manga series.
Some tell me that Ranma and Akane had this big wedding thing--which,
thanks to Ranma, didn't push through. Others say that Ranma got this
weird visit from his mother concerning some sort of seppuku ritual. But
all of them said the same thing: Ranma and Akane simply resumed life as
usual, complete with the usual bickering and maybe lacking a couple of
characters...
All I know is that I've been watching the "Tendo Christmas Scramble"
episode over and over, and quite frankly, I'm not gonna be satisfied if
the big finale of the series resembles the ending of that episode. All I
know is that a series of that caliber and characters deserves far more.
That is why I'm suddenly in fanfic-writer-mode.
Anyway, Takahashi Rumiko owns all these characters (except the Dynasty,
which belong to me). In fact, I'd like to thank her for giving us the
Ranmaverse--for giving us people like Ranma, Akane, Soun, etc., but most
especially for the underdogs like Mousse, Shampoo, Ukyou, and Akari, who
probably will never get what they want in both the manga and anime
series. Still, I believe that Rumiko Takahashi DIDN'T create these
characters which we can identify the most with simply so that they could
face defeat in the end.
Comments, suggestions, and flames (though I'd prefer not) are welcomed.
Your input will be deeply appreciated--no, I NEED the input. I need your
ideas if these characters are going to evolve. Enjoy.
=========================
* * * DYNASTY * * *
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
=========================
* * * * * *
============================
PROLOGUE:
In A Place Called Nerima
============================
Dynasty (di'nes-ti), n. [pl. -TIES], [see DYNAST], 1. a
succession of rulers of an empire who are members of the
same family.
* * * * * *
It was a place deep below the earth.
"The pig-girl...done...the snail-boy...done...the three-toed sloth
boy...done...the fly-girl...done..."
He sat at a desk in a cramped candlelit room, crouched over a long
piece of yellowed parchment.
"The moose-boy...done...the cat-girl...done..." he chanted softly.
His writing reed moved across the paper, not touching the names in
it that were written in gleaming green ink.
"The lion-boy...done...the bear-girl...done...ahh..."
The reed paused at the entries at the very bottom of the scroll.
He gave a little chuckle as he made a slight gesture with the reed-
pen.
The characters in green ink shimmered and vanished, as if by magic,
until all the writing that remained on the manuscript were the five
names at the end of the list.
"Five more, is it?"
After years and years of slumbering deep within the bowels of Japan,
the time was finally at hand. It had been an excruciatingly long time,
he admitted to himself--long enough for the Dynasty to begin
preparations before it could reclaim the land that it had once ruled
over. It would once again become the most powerful and the most feared
monarchy of all, just as it had been during its time.
But before this could be accomplished, every last individual on this
list would have to be disposed of first.
The roster of names had grown considerably smaller as the years
passed, as each of those unfortunate enough to be singled out by fate
was relentlessly hunted down and eliminated.
And now, there were only five of them left in the world.
He grinned like a shark.
The Dynasty had been waiting for this a long, long time...
He signaled at the messenger roaming restlessly outside his doorway
and handed him the rolled-up scroll.
"Inform my Lord that the these are the last of our obstacles," he
said. "Should he take care of them right away, then the dynasty will be
able to proceed as our oracles have foretold."
"Hai."
The messenger gave a slight bow, then disappeared down the ivory
hallway.
The candle was extinguished with a single pinch between his fingers.
"So it has begun," he murmured. "The cursed ones will die, and the
Dynasty will live again..."
* * * * * *
High above, the sun began to rise above the town known as Nerima.
* * * * * *
It was in a place deep below Japan.
The room was enormous, lit by the soft eerie glow of phosphor orbs,
and shimmering with reflected crystalline colors from the opalescent
ceiling high above. A variety of precious stones were imbedded in the
walls, which were also lined with gold at the bottom The chamber was
decorated with exquisite cloths and carvings from a bygone age, and in
a corner was an object that vaguely resembled a shrine. The air was
sweet with the scent of incense and strange-looking red-blue flowers.
A tall, dark man dressed in black red-lined robes paced up and down
at the front of the room, his expression obscured from the twenty or so
onlookers by the hood that was attached to his cape. Clasped in his
bony fingers was a golden staff with a dragon's head, the blood-red
jewel that constituted its eye sparkling with dark secrets.
He paused, his thick dark eyebrows knitted together in deep
thought.
"Shino." The word rumbled out in a deep bass voice.
A young man with unruly black hair and a heavyset frame got up from
his knees and made his way up to him. He was garbed in the samurai
outfit of a long-gone era, complete with a gold-plated breastplate and
a lacquered metal helmet that was tucked under his arm. The tattoo of a
coiled green dragon shone eerily from the biceps of his left arm.
Behind him were twenty more individuals in genuflecting positions, each
wearing the attire of the ancient samurais as well, except that their
armor was plated with iron and silver.
"Shino," the older man addressed him curtly, "you _are_ aware that
the Dynasty is now on the verge of establishing itself back in its
rightful place, are you not?"
"Hai, Lord Takuma," replied the youth.
"And you _do_ know that only five remain on the list, do you not?"
"Hai, Lord Takuma."
"And you _have_ undergone all the preparations necessary to deal
with these...distractions, have you not?"
It was an absurd question, really, and insulting to young Shino's
intelligence. Of COURSE he had prepared. After all, had he not led the
hunt for thousands of people whose names reigned on this list, for more
years than he had cared to count, from one country to another, slowly
ensuring the slow decline of potential obstacles from the destiny that
his Dynasty was fated to embrace?
Perhaps Lord Takuma would never notice it, but Shino had become
quite adept at his job as the captain of the dynasty's imperial guards.
"Shino?" the older man prompted him, a trifle sharply.
"Hai, Lord Takuma," the youth confirmed. "In fact, I have already
assembled some of my best warriors, ready to be dispatched at your
command." He smirked. "Eliminating these last five people will be as
easy as slicing off an upperworlder's head."
A murmur of amusement rippled through the onlookers.
"You had better be right, young Shino," said the older man, his tone
dangerously cold. "These five are the only ones standing in the way of
the Dynasty, and the sooner they are gotten rid of, then the better it
will be for all of us. Do you understand?"
The youth bowed, determination etched on his bronzed features. "Hai,
Lord Takuma. We will not fail you."
"Very well, then." The older man gave a stiffly appreciative nod. "I
trust that you will carry out your orders without difficulty."
As he turned to depart, Shino called out one last time to him.
"My lord," he began, "these five chosen ones--where are they to be
found?"
The older man paused, stroking his beard thoughtfully. Then he spoke.
"Nerima."
"Never heard of that place before," commented Shino, rather
indifferently.
There was a hint of a smile that crept across the older man's lips.
"So you have not. Nevertheless, you will find them in the place called
Nerima."
* * * * * *
It was just another day in the place called Nerima.
To be more accurate, it was a day that was just a few weeks after
the wedding fiasco of the town's most volatile couple.
The bride had nearly been killed, had nearly died, and was
unceremoniously "dumped" at the altar. Actually, it wasn't that she was
dumped. The truth was, the groom had gotten a case of iceberg feet in
the midst of the nuptials--before he had even gotten to the wedding
vows. The bride had asked him if he loved her, and his response was no
response at all.
The rest of the ceremony ended up in an uproar.
Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo's lives had become a big soap opera,
with the town of Nerima as their backdrop and a variety of odd and
unpredictable individuals as their co-stars.
The two were a contributing factor to the entire town's perpetual
State of Abnormality, and it was because of these two young people that
the cycle of weirdness continued to flourish. Because of these two, the
town had been visited by a huge flying fortress filled with warrior
vegetarians and nearly torn apart by a fat baby Phoenix stuck on top of
a certain upperclassman's head, and invaded by a host of individuals
with uncanny transformation powers.
In fact, the whole of Nerima seemed to revolve around Ranma Saotome
and Akane Tendo, feeding off the details of their lives, paying for the
scrapes they got into, and suffering huge amounts of property damage
costs (caused either by countless martial artist duels with Ranma versus
Ryouga/Kunou/Mousse/whoever or Akane's daily mallet chases after Ranma
whenever he pissed her off considerably).
The wedding debacle was no different.
But now, it seemed that life in Nerima had returned to
more-or-less-abnormal, and things had settled down, at least for the
time being.
Early morning found a spectacle of Nerima's more notorious citizens
proceeding with their daily routines: Ranma and Akane bickered about
Akane's latest murder attempt on him with her toxic cooking as they
made their way to Furinkan High; Shampoo prepared to intercept Ranma
on her bike, a box of ramen on her hand and a frantic Mousse at her
heels; Tatewaki Kuno searched the streets to Furinkan High with a
Ready-to-Smite bokken in his hand, determined to rescue the pig-tailed
girl and Akane Tendo from the clutches of the infidel Saotome; Kodachi
Kuno prowled about with a bouquet of toxin-secreted black roses for her
true love Ranma; Ukyou Kuonji applied the finishing touches to her
heart-shaped okonomiyaki with the saucy message of "To My Darling
Ranma", which she planned to present to him upon arriving at Furinkan
High; Ryouga Hibiki asked for directions to Nerima in the middle of the
Nerima district, and was promptly hugged by a very excited-looking
girl with a huge white sumo pig; Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome played
their neverending game of Shogi and discussed the stubbornness of their
children; Kasumi cheerfully made house; Nabiki Tendo was off extorting
some unfortunate victims; the incredibly perverted master of the
Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts ran across a bathhouse floor
carrying his latest haul of women's underthings; Shampoo's great-
grandmother Cologne sat alone at the Nekohantan and schemed on how to
snare Ranma for her great-granddaughter.
It was almost _too_ typical a day, however.
And when things remained relatively uneventful for too long a time,
something was _bound_ to burst.
The Dynasty of the Dragon was coming.
And Nerima would never be the same.
* * * * * *
Dynasty (di'nes-ti), n. [pl. -TIES], [see DYNAST], 2. the
period in which a certain family reigns.
=end of prologue=
Additional notes: This's probably going to be one hell of a long story.
Partly because the premise this fic is based on is kind of complicated
and requires some research on Japan's earlier history, and partly
because there are a LOT of things I want to resolve in the Ranmaverse
through this story.
First off, though, I'd like to say thanks to Lyn Daniel (for
encouraging me on my Ranma art, which I specifically drew for this
story--I owe you a lot), RPM (my favorite Ranma fic writer, for making
me realize that there is absolutely NOTHING you can't do in the fanfic
world), Gary Kleppe (for inspiring me to write my first fic, "Akane and
Ranma"--boy, THAT was one controversial story), Anthony Woo, David
Tatum and others (for their feedback on stereotyping characters--I
couldn't have done this fic without your help), Ryuuko, a.k.a.
R.I.T.S.bitz (for introducing me to the FFML), and all those who sent
me feedback for all the stuff I've posted onto the mailing list.
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com