Well, here it is, part five of the "Arashi Series" please write to me
and tell me what you think of my work. A minor note: This story is
currently undergoing MAJOR renovations. (Which is why I labelled it as
a "draft")I'll post the new story when I get it finished... if
ever...(so much work to be done on it!!!!) Anyways, you can find this
story, and a whole bunch of other crud, on my homepage:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/2324
Please sign the guestbook while you're there!


		       Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction

		          "Alone in Time"


		     Part Five- Sword of the Gods  


	Arashi pressed forward, trying to put Nekura on the defensive. She
lunged, thrusted, parried, but it seemed Nekura was prepared for her
every move. She felt frustration welling up in her as blow after 
blow did not connect with her foe. Suddenly, out of the corner of her
eye, she saw a white sparkle. It was nothing but the moon reflecting
on a piece of broken glass, but it attracted her attention for a
fraction of a millisecond, just long enough for her to not notice the
rock in her path, and stumble over it.
	Nekura watched Arashi fall, springing forward in that one instant
where her twin was completely off balance. She raised her sword in
triumph, preparing to deliver the killing blow. She was stopped in mid
swing as a brilliant scarlet light suddenly enfolded Arashi. 
	Arashi opened her eyes, amazed that she wasn't dead. Just before
she'd fallen, she'd seen Nekura dart forward, death in her eyes. She
found herself surrounded by a blood-red light. She saw the stone that
she had taken from the hand of Hotei hanging in midair, exactly
between Nekura and her. It was from the stone that the light emenated.
How-? her confused mind asked. She stood up, slowly, and reached out
her hand to take the stone. Nekura saw what she was doing and lunged
for the stone herself. They touched it at exactly the same time. To
both the girls' amazement, the stone cracked down the middle, Arashi
taking hold
of the white half, the moonstone, while Nekura got the black half, the
color of fine onyx. 
	Each of the halves rounded themselves and filled, both becoming
seperate, full stones. Arashi gasped in wonder, but Nekura sneered.
"Isn't that just perfect!" But the stones weren't through yet. They 
floated up, out of their owners' grasps, to hang above their heads.
They could see a fine, misty glow surround the stones. The mist
resolved, forming parts of itself into solidity. The remaining mists
blew away, and hanging above the girls were two brightly burnished
swords, glowing softly in the crimson aura that still surrounded them.
Abruptly, the aura disappeared, and the swords clattered to the ground.
	Arashi picked hers up, carefully. The moonstone was embedded in the
hilt. It wasn't a kitana, in fact it wasn't like any kind of sword
she's ever seen before. The blade was wide, and heavy looking, about
two feet in length. The hilt was more utilitarian than decorative, a
simple pommel, thin crossgaurd, and only the luminous white stone for 
decoration. Arashi saw Nekura picking up her sword as well. 
	Nekura laughed, cold and cruel. "This is it then. One half of one the
ancient worlds' most powerful weapons." She examined the length of it
aprraisingly. Then she looked up at Arashi and smiled. "I'll be back
for the other half later. See ya!" She leaped up, fading backwards
into the air. Arashi clutched the hilt of her newfound sword. 
	"What happens now?" She asked the uncaring moon. She slowly turned,
and headed for home. 
	When she reached her apartment, Akane greeted her at the door. Mousse
had gone back to the restaurant, to check in with Cologne, and Ranma
had gone back to the Tendo house to tell everyone where they were. She
saw the sword grasped in Arashi's hand. "What happened?" she asked
breathlessly. Arashi explained everything quietly. 
	"Where's the priest?" Arashi asked, "Was he all right? Did you leave
him there?"
	"Well, no. Actually, he was unconcious, so we brought him here. Was
that all right? He's awake now. I cleaned his wound and bandaged it."
	Arashi nodded. "Thank you Akane. I'd better go talk to him. But
first, I'm going to put this away." She wrapped the sword in a blanket
and hid it in the bottom of the closet. Then she headed to the living
room. The novice priest was there, sitting on the edge of the couch,
hands clasped tensly together. He jumped when Arashi entered. 
	"Hi," Arashi said quietly.
	"Hello," He replied.
	Arashi bowed her head. "I beg your forgiveness," she said softly,
"For what my sister did."
	His hand went unconciously to his throat. 
	"My name is Arashi," she told him, "I'll be glad to tell you all you
want to know."
	"I'm Rin," he replied. "I help out at the temple. The only thing I
really want to know," he said, "I who was that girl, what stone was she
talking about, and why did she think I had it? I not going to  blame
you for your her actions. Besides," he shrugged, "you saved me."
	Arashi smiled wearily. "The answers to those questions aren't simple.
I'll have to tell you the story from the beginning." She settled back
onto a chair and told him the story of her and her sister, and also of
the jewel clutched in Hotei's hand. When she had finished, he shook
his head in amazement. 
	"I would say I don't believe it," He said, "but I saw her with my own
eyes. I'm not really a preist at the temple, you know," He looked up
at her. "I'm actually a student from near Osaka. I come here every
once in a while to help my grandfather out with taking care of the
shrine. I never really believed all this gods stuff before, but now
the evidence is right here in front of me. It's amazing."
	Arashi's vision blurred as all the events in the day seemed to cach
up to her at once and threatened to pull her under a wave of sleep.
However, there was still one thing she had to do before she could rest. 
	"Even if you don't blame me," she told him, "I'll still feel very
responsible for what happened to you. And, to make it up to you, I can
erase any marks Nekura left on you."
	Rin looked at her incredulously. "It's not that bad," He said, "It
doesn't even really hurt, you know."
 	"Still," Arashi said, "I can make sure there will be no scar." She
got up and walked over to him, then gently laid her hand across his
eyes. "Relax," she said, "Close your eyes and breathe deeply. This
won't hurt, but you may feel a little tingly."
	"You're not going to do anything perverted, are you?" he asked.
	"No!"
	"Too bad."
	"Shhhh. Just relax." Arashi started to hum a quiet tune under her
breath. She concentrated her powers into the tune until it grew and
moved like a thing alive. She pushed the power of the music down her
arm and into his body. It stimulated the nerves and tissues, and they
began to grow at a faster rate. She pushed harder, and the cells
replicated themselves like mad. Slowly, under the bandage, the wound
began to close by itself. When Arashi finished the song, it was as
completely healed as if it had never been there. 
	Rin unwrapped the bandage and felt the unbroken skin. He looked up at
Arashi with awe in his eyes. "How did-?" Arashi laid her finger across
his lips. She could feel the black abyss of exhaustion pulling at her
just beneath her skin. "It's only-" she said, but she got no further,
for the darkness overwhelmed her. 

			*	*	*

	The sun shone poked its golden rays into the tiny bedroom. A fresh
breezed spirited in through the open window and took a short tour
around the room before slowly dying out. Outside, birds and cicadias 
were chirping and buzzing cheerfully, welcoming the new day. 
	Arashi wanted to shoot them.
	She turned over in her bed and pulled the covers up. "Stupid happy
things," she muttered, "Up and about at this hour." Her head pounded
in a painful counterbeat to the birdsong, and every muscle she had
ached. "You'd think," she said to the ceiling, "That after a thousand
years, I would know my own damn limits!" She had stretched herself way
too far last night, first a full day of work, which was tiring enough,
then the fight with Nekura, and then she had actually thought she had
had enough energy left to heal that priest! What was his name again?
Oh yeah, Rin. A pretty ordinary name, she decided, for a pretty
ordinary looking person. Short dark brown hair, brown eyes, regular
build. You don't, she reflected sleepily, get much more ordinary than
that.
	Arashi rolled slowly out of bed, every muscle screaming in protest.
She desperately wanted to sleep, and knew another hour or two would do
her good, but she also knew from experience that if she didn't move
now, her muscles were going to hurt even more later. Halfway back from
the bathroom, her thinking finally got up to something somewhat
resembling normal speed.
Bed? she thought, Who put me in the bed? I conked out on the living
room floor! She headed to the kitchen to see if whoever it had been
was still around so she could thank them.
	No one was there, but there was a note on the table. It was from
Akane. She said that she had had to go home, but she hoped Arashi was
better now. Mousse had come back, and said Cologne said she didn't need
to come to work today, and there was also a post script from Rin,
thanking her and saying he would come back, if that was okay, to make
sure she was doing all right. As Arashi stared at the note, a vague
memory of Rin's arms around her, carrying her into the bedroom and
laying her gently on the bed, then snapping off the light and leaving,
floated to the surface of her mind. She would have to remember to
thank him for that later. Meanwhile, her stomach was making some loud, 
insistant demands.
	As she was eating breakfast, her guardian appeared over her orange
juice, materializing as the customary ball of golden light. Arashi
yawned at it. "What do you want?"
	"That was an impressive battle," the ball began. "What followed,
however.."
	"I don't want to hear about it." Arashi took her dishes over to the
sink. "I don't regret doing it. It was my fault he got hurt."
	"No, that's not it. It was the separation of the swords I was talking
about."
	Arashi turned around. "What do you mean?" she asked, "I couldn't do
anything about that."
	"I know," it said, "It was just totally unexpected. Tell me, Arashi,
do you know how to use a sword like that?"
	"No," Arashi said slowly, "I've never even seen a sword like that
before."
	The ball sighed a little. "I didn't think so. Well, I think you're
going to have to learn."
	"Learn? Why? I can already use perfectly good weapons, why should I
learn a new one?" 
	"Because Nekura knows how to use hers. That is one half of a very
powerful, very ancient weapon. A normal weapon could not stand against
it, but since you have the other half, you might be able to neutralize
its power."
	"How long do I have?" Arashi asked. 
	The ball hesitated a moment. "Maybe a week." It said.
	"A week?!" Arashi stared at it. "You expect me to learn a whole new
weapon in a week?!"
	"It is vital. Maybe Mousse will help you."
	Arashi turned thoughtfully back to the sink. "Yeah," She sighed
dreamily, "Maybe Mousse..." Her spirits suddenly dropped as she
remembered the conversation they had had yesterday. You mean a lot to
me, he had said to her, but I'm in love with Shampoo. She had almost
forgotten, but now the words weighed heavily on her heart. Her eyes
filled with tears as
she remembered him walking away from her down the hallway.
	"Arashi?" The ball asked, "Are you all right?" Arashi sniffled and
pulled herself upright. "I'm fine," she said. "I just-- don't think I
can
ask Mousse to help me. Not for a while anyways."
	"We don't have a while!" The ball hissed urgently, "we only have a
week! Can't you just put your adolecent feelings aside?" It suddenly
realized it had said the wrong thing as Arashi's back stiffened and
her whole demenor turned cold as ice. 
	"I'll master it on my own," she said icily, "And if you don't like
it, you can just go find someone else to be your avatar!" By the end
of the
sentence, she was shouting angrily. She turned on her heel and stalked
out of the room.
	Arashi's guardian sank slowly down towards the floor. It had been so
caught up in the search for Nekura and the jewel, it had never stopped
to notice how deep Arashi's feelings for Mousse had become. Something
must have happened between them to make her react so angrily. It
decided to let her cool off, then go back later and try to apologize.
         There was only one problem, though. It had suggested Mousse
as a teacher for the sword, but that was only a shot in the dark. It
didn't really think 
the Martial Artist would have any knowledge of that weapon. That left
only one question. How was Arashi going to learn to control the
incredible power housed in that sword without a teacher?
		
	End of Part Five

 Well, there it is. Kinda short, I know, but like I said, its
undergoing a lot of changes before the next posting. Please email me:
ShampUsagi@yahoo.com with your reactions, to this story or any of my
other ones. Thank you, and Keep Dreamin'!


_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com