Howdy,

For those of you holding your breath over the release of chapter 5 of "What
Price Love?" please stop, you'll turn blue, then purple and pass out. 
Unfortunatly, it has been indefinitely delayed.  Mostly because of several
ideas that are pushing their way to the forefront of my brain.  However, I
will be shortly taking a week's paid vacation from work in  which I intend
to write these ideas out of my head.  Most of these will be Ranma fics, but
there might be a 2001 Nights and Inu-Yasha fic in there somewhere.

Anyway, just to prove to prove to you that I have actually been doing
somekind of writing, I submit to you a short teaser/prologue of one of my
ideas, still nameless at the moment.

                
    "Here sirs, we come to training ground of Cursed Springs, known as
Jyusenkyo.  Each spring in this valley hold very tragic sto..."
    "C'mon boy!  Catch me if you can!"  A large man in on off-white gi and
head scarf ran past the shocked guide and leapt on top of a bamboo pole
sticking up from one of the many springs.
    "Right behind ya oyaji."  A young man of about fourteen, black hair
tied back into a pigtail and wearing a matching gi, took a similar place on
another pole.
    Seeing the two Martial Artists about to engage in a fight snapped the
guide out of his shock and he cried out in warning, "Please sirs!  Very bad
if you fall in spring."  The two combatants either didn't hear or didn't
care.  [Oh well, I did my best to stop them.  They can't blame me for any
problems.]
    "Ranma!  A true martial artist must be able to fight from any position.
 Just try and knock me from my perch."
    "Hah!  No problem oyaji."  Ranma leapt from his pole, right foot
extended.  Just before he reached his father, he switched feet, catching
Genma in his right side instead of hitting the block that Genma had
prepared for his left.  Genma went flying from his pole and into a spring. 
"Haha!  Give me a challenge next time will ya oya..."
    Ranma stopped in mid word as he saw a black and white blur erupt from
the pool and land on a nearby pole.  He heard the guide's voice behind him.
 "Ah.  He fall in Spring of Drowned Panda.  Very tragic story of panda who
fall in spring and drown 2000 years ago."
    Ranma turned and faced the guide.  "He fell in WHAT?"  Ranma felt
something strike him in the back and he went flying headfirst into another
pool.
    Under the water Ranma felt himself changing, but he couldn't tell into
what.  As he broke the surface of the pool he heard the voice of the guide.
 "...take the body of a young girl."  He looked down at himself, and sure
enough he had a pair of breasts.  He crawled weakly from the pool, shock
etched in his face.  He had just stood and opened his mouth to speak when
the ground shook violently.  He was thrown back into the pool.  As he
landed he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head and all went black.

                             ***

    Three wizened old women were standing worriedly around a wooden table
in a small hut.  They all three looked very much the same, save for the
color of their dresses.  The woman on the left was wearing a blue dress
trimmed in silver.  The woman in the middle wore a green dress trimmed in
gold.  The third woman wore a dress of red trimmed in purple.  On the table
lay a girl dressed in an off-white gi.  The girl's head was swathed in
bandages, but bits of flame red hair could be seen sticking out of the
bandages here and there.
    <Shhh...She's coming around.>  the middle woman whispered.
    The girl's eyes fluttered open and she winced in pain at the bright
light filling the small hut.  "Uuuuhhhh...Where am I?"  Seeing the three
women she sat up in surprise.  "Who are..."  and immediately fell back to
the table, clutching her head.  "Oohhh my head."  Opening eyes she hadn't
realized she'd shut, she tried again.  "Where am I?  Who are you?  And for
that matter who am I?"
    "You, dear girl, are in the Chinese Amazon village of Joketsuzoku.  We
are the matriarchs of the tribe.  I am Cologne. To my right is Parfume.  To
my left is Min.  As for who you are, that is as much a mystery to us as it
apparently is to you. What is the last thing you remember?"
    "I remember the ground shaking violently and me falling back.  There
was a splash and a pain in my head.  Then all went black and I woke up
here."
    Cologne looked carefully at the young girl.  "I'm not sure how to tell
you this, but the place you were at is a very magic and very cursed place. 
Each of the springs in that valley is cursed to turn whatever falls in them
into whatever drowned there last.  From your final memories, I'd say you
fell in one of the springs.  The curse is activated when a victim is
splashed with cold water and reversed when the victim is splashed with hot.
 In all likelihood this body could be a curse of Jyusenkyo.  We need to
splash you with both hot and cold water to be sure.  First the cold water."
 Cologne took a small bucket that had been lying at her feet and dumped its
contents on the injured girl.
    "Gaaah!  Cold."  Nothing happened.
    "Hhhmmmm...Let's try the hot water then."  Cologne took another bucket
and dumped its contents on the girl.
    "Aaaahhhh!  Hot!"  Still nothing happened.
    "Ooops.  Sorry about that.  You, dear girl, are in luck. Of all the
pools of Jyusenkyo, you fell in the one that could do nothing to you: The
Spring of Drowned Girl."
    A little steamed at the Amazon, the girl shot back "So what!  I still
don't have my memories back."
    "At least you are alive and not (and I mean this quite literally) a
chicken or something even worse!" Cologne shot back.
    Properly chastened, the girl replied, "I'm sorry.  It's
just...hard...not knowing who I am...where I'm from...if anyone is missing
me..."
    "I understand dear girl.  Now, get some sleep, you need to heal more."
    "But I'm not tired."
    A light touch from Cologne across the girl's forhead and she was sound
asleep.  <Sleep well dear girl, we'll talk more later.>

                             ***

    Cologne and the red haired girl sat facing each other in the middle of
the central square of Joketsuzoku.  Cologne was still clad in her green and
gold dress.  The girl's head was no longer covered in bandages, revealing
fiery red hair tied back into a pig-tail.  Instead of her gi, she was
wearing a short, purple, Chinese style dress and matching slippers.
    Cologne spoke.  "As the first order of business, you need a name. 
After all, I can't just keep calling you dear girl.  Can you not remember
your name at all?"
    The girl sat there for a moment, hard in thought.  "I remember a little
more than when we spoke before, but my name is not a part of that."
    "Do you have a preference?"
    "I...wait...something's coming back. My name is
R-R-Ra-Ran...sigh...It's gone."
    "Hhhhmmm...could your name be Ranko?"
    "No, that's not it.  But, it will do.  Ranko.  I like it."
    "Very well, Ranko, that now brings us to our second order of business. 
You said you remembered more, what do you remember?"
    "I was at Jyusenkyo with someone.  It's kind of confused.  I see a man
at first, I think he's my father, then I see a panda, and I get the same
impression.  Also, I know I'm a martial artist."
    "Hhhmmm...there is a Spring of Drowned Panda. It could be that your
father fell in that spring.  Unfortunately, we found no one besides you and
the guide, and there were no tracks or blood trails leading out of the
valley.  I'm sorry, but it's entirely possible your father fell down one of
the many large cracks created by the earthquake and was killed."
    As Cologne talks of the death of Ranko's father, her face darkens and
her eyes mist up for a moment, then she is calm once more.  "As much as I
would like to, I cannot grieve for one who I don't remember as more than a
face and an impression.  When my memories return, then will I grieve."
    "I have been speaking with the other matriarchs, Parfume and Min, and
we have decided that if you can prove yourself worthy, we will adopt you
into the tribe."
    "And how do I prove myself?"
    "By combat of course."  Cologne stood and called out loudly in Chinese.
 <It is time for the testing!  Everyone come to the square!>
    "What did you just say?"
    "I just told everyone in the village to come see your testing.  Don't
worry, we'll work on your Chinese after the test."
    Soon, the entire square was lined with people, mostly women, but there
were a fair number of men as well.  From out of the crowd walked a purple
haired girl wearing a lavender dress similar to Ranko's and carrying a
bonbori in each hand.  As the girl approached, Ranko and Cologne stood,
with Cologne between the opponents.
    "This is to be your opponent, my great-granddaughter Shampoo.  She is
the best fighter in the village for her age group.  The rules are simple
Ranko, the match ends when one of you is unconcious, concedes, or a
matriarch ends the fight.  You don't have to win this fight, it is merely a
test of your skill to see if you are worthy of being called Amazon."
    "I understand."
    Cologne hopped back out of the path of the two fighters.  <Then let the
test begin.>
    Shampoo was instantly in a martial arts stance, her bonbori held ready.
 Ranko just stood there, hands at her sides.
    "Great-grandmother say begin."  Shampoo alerted Ranko in broken
Japanese.
    "I know,"  she replied calmly.
    With a shout, Shampoo rushed Ranko, her bonbori swinging. Ranko calmly
dodged each blow as she slowly backed up.  Shampoo took a step back,
silently reappraising her opponent.  Ranko quickly dropped into a leg
sweep, causing Shampoo to hop back even farther.  While still crouching,
Ranko launched herself headfirst at Shampoo.  She knocked Shampoo's bonbori
wide with
her hands then flipped in mid-air, kicking Shampoo in the stomach.  Shampoo
was knocked back several steps while Ranko simply landed lightly on her
feet.
    With a grimace of determination, Shampoo leapt back towards Ranko, her
bonbori swinging faster than before.  Ranko was able to block most of them,
but took a hit to the stomach and a glancing blow to her chin, forcing the
red head to back off.  Giving her head a quick shake, Ranko rushed back
into the fight.  Her speed suprised Shampoo, allowing Ranko to get inside
the purple haired Amazon's guard, where she knocked one leg out from under
Shampoo.  Even as she was falling to one knee, Shampoo was able to hook her
bonbori around Ranko's legs, knocking her flat on her back.  Kneeling over
Ranko, Shampoo brought one bonbori up over her head to strike the finishing
blow.  As it struck Ranko's temple, Ranko's foot slipped past Shampoo's
guard, striking her in the head.  The fight ended with an unconscious
Shampoo falling over on an equally unconscious Ranko.

                              ***

    Ranko slowly came to consciousness and immediately wished she hadn't. 
Her jaw hurt, her abs felt like she just did a thousand sit-ups, and she
had a splitting headache.  Looking around slowly as her eyes came into
focus, she saw the matriarch Cologne sitting in a chair nearby.  As she
looked over, Cologne stood up and came over to the table Ranko was lying
on.
    "Aaahh good, you're awake.  How are you feeling?"
    "You have got to be kidding me.  I've never felt this sore in my life."
    "I shouldn't wonder, with the beating you took from your step-sister."
    "Yeah, Shampoo is quite the fighter, but I gave as good...did you say
step-sister?"
    With a smile, Cologne replied, "Yes I did, great-grandaughter.  You
have been accepted into the tribe under my tutlage.  Now, let's see about
teaching you Chinese so you can speak with the rest of the tribe."



So whaddya think?  Is it worth continuing, is it trash?  Can someone help
me name it?  C&C as always, appreciated.  Flames will be laughed at,
forwarded to Satan and deleted.

C-Ya ='P
Jon Osborne


"The Master...He's dead?"
"I _thought_ he was actin' a mite strange..."
    -Inu Yasha Vol. 1