- Ranma � A very wet thread -
^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^

Standing still, not a sound,
enemies all around.

Faster than your opponent,
protecting every friend.

        These are things that matter in the end.

^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^

The purple bottle flew through the air in a high arc, nearly hitting the
floor before Ranma's hands caught it.

-Is this the same as the last time?

--

Kasumi trotted down the stairs. (Genma is in the furo. I threw out those
horrible little birds. All I need to do now is reheat the food so that
everyone can eat when they're ready) She smiled and picked up the larger of
the plates that she had prepared. (I wonder what is taking dad and Akane so
long)

Standing by the door, she drew her hand alongside it. Petting it as it were.
(MY kitchen)

She slid the door aside and saw�

--

Shampoo groaned. The pink thing in the chair was still angry at her. She
couldn't care less of course. She tried shaking her head but she was still
too weak. (Don't want that dream) A trickle of blood ran along her skin.
Getting weaker still it seemed. She let go of consciousness. (Ranko)

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
  ) The sky was blue, the birds twittered in the trees, lovers
(   spoke of endearment towards each other. (What more could
  ) make this a perfect day?)
(   
  ) -Ranko I'll kill you! (Ah, the clarion cry of death, forever faithful. 
(  No big wonder why I didn't catch on to Ranko sooner than I 
  ) did) The purple hair disappeared through the smoke of  
(  another building falling to pieces. Another wall crumbled at 
  ) the touch of a bonbori. Shampoo stepped over the rubble.
(  
  ) -Wait, Shampoo! Can't we talk this over like elders?
(   
  ) -I refuse to talk to people with a death sentence on them.
(   (Even if I have feelings for them)
  ) 
(   -But Shampoo! Isn't there some way to get around that?
  ) (Not likely that I'd tell you yet)
(   
  ) -Prepare to die!

(   Two bonboris headed straight for the little redhaired's head.
  ) Ranko ducked and they crashed through the wall behind
(   her. A waterpipe burst and sprayed it's contents to the left
  ) of the two. (I wonder why the water avoid us, not normal?)
(   Ranko blew a raspberry at her and bounced away from her.
  ) Ranko looked back and suddenly bounded towards her
(   instead. Something heavy hit her and the everything blacked out.
  )
(   -Shampoo? You okay?
  )
(   -Unh!
  )
(   -Shampoo!
  )
(   She curled up in a ball and let the tears flow. It didn't matter
  ) anymore.
(   -Why cant I at least beat you, so we can be equals?
  ) -Huh?
(   -If we were equals we can become bloodsisters and then I
  ) wouldn't have to kill you.
(   -Okay, let's!
  ) Ranko cut her arm and let the blood drip on Shampoos
(   forehead, moving it down to her mouth... (WAIT, wait! This
  ) not the way things happen!)
(   
  ) The temporary fountain swayed towards the two and filled 
(   everything you could see with flowing water. Eventually the 
  ) water subsided, leaving everything as it was a few seconds 
(   earlier with Ranko standing close to the fallen Shampoo.
  ) 
(   -Why cant I at least beat you, so we can be equals?
  ) -Huh?
(   -If we were equals we can become bloodsisters and then I 
  ) wouldn't have to kill you.
(   -W -wh -what are you talking about?
  ) -I don't want to kill you.
(   (That's closer)
  ) 
(   -Shampoo you've got to stop with this killing nonsense. 
  ) Can't you think of any alternatives?
(   In response Shampoo takes out a small vial with water. 
  ) -Pour this over your head and then we can marry instead.
(  
  ) Ranko took the vial and eyed it carefully, she frowned and 
(   threw it away. The vial passed through the water flowing 
  ) from the broken pipe and broke when it hit the concrete 
(   on the other side.
  ) -Stupid Ranko why did you do that?
(   -I've had it up to here with magic and potions and I'm NOT 
  ) going to 
marry you just to stay alive.
(   
  ) -Aaargh, you imbecile that was nannichuan water, I cant use it 
(   But you can, you would bee my husband by law. 
  ) Ranko's face paled.
(   -N-a-n-n-i-c-h-u-a-n water!
  ) 
(   Immediately she jumped through the hot water, 
  ) sprouting from the pipe, to get the vial. (I remember this 
(   very good. I never got worse chock!) From the water 
  ) emerged, not a girl as Shampoo expected, but a boy.
(   
  ) -Airen! She exclaimed and glomped him. (Things couldn't 
(   have been more perfect, airen was already cursed. If only...) 
  ) 
(   Unfortunately she had run through a puddle to get to Ranko 
  ) and so had turned into a cat. Ranko froze, looked down and let 
(   out a scream filled with a horror that Shampoo couldn't start
  ) to imagine. There were claws and teeth in that scream, 
(   darkness and eyes in the night, bones scraped bare of living
  ) tissue and that was just the things she could name. The rest 
(   didn't need words or pictures, for there was no equivalent in
  ) the living world to describe them.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
--

Akane lowered her head and sighed. Beside her was an unconscious man. Namely her father Soun Tendo.

-Geez. He could at least have been a little bit quieter. 

She picked him up and threw him over her shoulder. The dust didn't move when she walked. Nor was she lit up in a strange way. But per request, we will say that it the dust did move. We will also say that she was walking into a setting sunset. Even if she really was walking out of the reach of the streetlight in a dark foggy alley. We will still say that thing about the sunset

And so the camera should pan out slowly, to leave this picture the as was earlier described.

--

The door slid open quietly. Revealing an impossible scene. Pots and pans where overthrown. The table was cut in half. The stove was stuck halfway in the ceiling. In short, total carnage. In the middle was a large werewolf, looking rather meek
ly at the woman who had just opened the door.

-My kitchen?
Kasumi's voice was hollow, almost void of emotion.

-Erk. I can explain! The werewolf exclaimed, scratching the backside of its
hands.

*Thunk*
The werewolf blinked and then rushed forward to help her.

-Hello? Are you okay?

--

-Ooooh! My head.
Genma sank down into the warm bath. (What in the nine hells did that woman
do to me? The headache isn't supposed to come now. It's supposed to come in
the morning after a good long rest) He raised his hand to his head.
Caressing the pain slowly.
-And I don't even feel drunk anymore.
*Knirp*
The window slid open. A voice tried to whisper outside, to Genmas ears it
sounded like shouting.
-Slowly now. Don't want to wake that oaf in the bath do you. Do what I say
and we'll have you back to normal in no time.
The voice was answered by a lot of cawing
-What do you mean "look away"? There's no real difference between now and
after the hot water. You'll still be naked.
Genma didn't react to any of this. He just sank deeper into the water and
closed his eyes. (All is okay with the world. The headache will soon be
gone. Those hallucinations will go away just as soon as I feel better. Just
relax.) The hot water erased some of the headache. This was good.

What was not good was that the hallucination continued. A lot of scuffling
could be heard from the windowsill and suddenly a loud thud from the
outside. A little bit more scuffling from the windowsill and then a splash
from the other side of the furo. The terrible part came when a naked Nabiki
emerged from the hot water. That's when the headache increased. After that
Genma wouldn't have noticed his wife waving a katana in front of his face.

--

Ryo-chan jumped to the side as Nodoka dove for him.
-Get back here you annoying pig! You do not bite me and think that you can
get away with it.

She grabbed for him again, and again Ryo-chan jumped to the side.
-Get back here!
As Nodoka and Ryo-chan rushed out the door Ranma and Cologne went back to
staring at each other.

In the other room Mouse was being used as a a footrug for Ryo-chan and
Nodoka when they ran around the room.
*Oouf*
*Dosh,dosh,dosh,dosh*
*Oouf*
*Dosh,dosh,dosh,dosh*
*Oouf*
-Aaaargh! Mouse vaulted away. He didn't notice the little black pig passing
between his legs after he had landed.
-Stop running over me!
*Kadunk* Nodoka and Mouse collided.

--

Kodachi plushed the pillow and put it on the bed. She shook the sheets
thoroughly, folded them and placed them on the pillow. Taking a large can of
manure, she sprinkled some on the bed.

-There Master, all is prepared.

-(*!*)

She nodded and sprinkled more dirt over the manure. Then she picked the
flower up and placed it vertically on the dirtbed. She plucked up the
sheets, placed the head of the flower on the pillow and spread the sheets
over it. After all that, she curled up in a fetus position on the floor
beside the bed.

-Soon, Master soon!

When she closed her eyes she was already asleep.

--

Down in the basement a red parrot was holding a monkeywrench in it's beak,
trying to turn a large knob on a pipe. Surprisingly enough, this didn't
hinder his ability to speak. (That beak of his must be a freakin' miracle)

-Nosiree, no ones goin' too change while I'm around. No splashes of any kind
is gonna surprise me or woffie nor anyone else for that matter. Not one drop
of water is gonna pass into this house. Nope, nada, zero chance, not while
I'm on the job.

He stopped, let go of the wrench and looked dreamily at the sealing.

-She's gonna be so proud!

--

Mouse shook his head and glared at Nodokas back.
-Couldn't you at least have stoped chasing that pig. He took out a katana
and pooked her with it for emphasis. Nodoka turned around to face him. Her
face was totally red, she looked ready to kill.
 *Gulp*
-No need to get angry. He he he.
He backed away slowly from her.
-Yipe!
She grabbed his throat.
-You took my Ukyo! Where is she?

*Splash* Nodoka was wet and she was holding a very wet duck. A little
further down  Ryo-chan was smiling evily with a an empty bowl in his mouth.
Nodoka blinked.

--

*knirk*

A trapdoor opened in an odd place. It was green and it had pigs sticking out
of it. Out from the door fell a young� female-looking person.

-Unghhh. Huh? No mom, this is my sleepytime, get your own. I need
beautysleep too!

She� he� it� Tsubasa curled up and tried to go back to sleep. If it hadn't
been for the cold floor Tsubasa would have succeeded. As it was Tsubasas
dress wasn't warm enough in itself. So� Tsubasa was forced to get up and get
to the bedroom.

If this had been another reality, Tsubasa would have had a little sister
running around, getting into his stuff, annoying hrim*, leaving small balls
of light in all the dark places**, being cuter than he could be*** and she
would have been taking a midnight sandwich from the fridge.

IF it had been another reality. Since it isn't, there was a little boy there
instead. The boy was about one year older than the girl would have been.****
He didn't eat a sandwich, he drank juice.*****

-Good morning Tsu.

Tsubasa looked outside.
-Its not morning. Tsubasa answered irritably.

-No, but in a few hours it will be anyway so what's the difference?

-Go to bed Chi!

-It's not late enough for that yet. Your girlfriend hasn't come back you
know, she usually shows up to hassle you some more before she goes away.

Tsubasa woke up from halfsleep.
-Nabiki! I promised I would capture him!
Tsubasa ran back to the closet

--
*HeR+hIM=HRIM. She never thought of him as a guy or as a girl. She went for
the middle part. This was what she usually called him if he did what he
usually did and she was who she usually was. Different realitys kept in
mind.
**She had two things in common with herself everywhere. She didn't like the
dark and�
***This was always what annoyed him the most.
****The reason for the difference being that, in this world Tsubasas parents
saw two kids battling on their roof, thereby ruining the mood for the two of
them. One year later, the kids weren't there.
*****He didn't call Tsubasa a hrim either, he called Tsubasa a sibling.
--

(Mmmm� ooooooh! How nice.) Nabiki was lying on her bed, still very naked,
alternating between stretching, hugging and just generally feeling her legs.
At the moment she was hugging them. (I'm human again. I have real legs
again. Oh, what a wonderful feeling! I am not going to lose you ever again)
She was back to feeling her legs when something unexpected happened.

*Rumble*

(What?) Nabiki drew her hands over her belly. (That's right, I barely got to
any of the food) She drew her hands along her thighs one last time and got
out of bed to put some clothes on.

(Let's see... what will I wear to show off my beautiful _human_ legs now?)
She walked over to the closet and looked in. After careful consideration she
pulled out some jeans with the legs cut off and a t-shirt. (Now that I am
human again I should show off my great figure. There is something I've been
neglecting lately. It should go "Money, boys and soda-pop". I've kept mostly
with the money for a while. It's time I enjoyed the others as well but I
won't forget the money part) *Grumble* Nabiki felt her stomach again.

-Why am I suddenly so hungry? Oh well, there's more food downstairs.

She trotted down the stairs, skipping every second step.

--

-Is it the same?

-It will cure you of you'r curse.

-But... whatever. Ranma pocketed the bottle. Where is Ukyou?
Cologne blinked and then smiled.

-I sugest you ask Mouse daughter-in-law.
At that moment a certain four-eyed duck rolled up between them, chased by a
black pig with a blue collar and a furious woman with a katana. The woman
seemed equally happy to hit either of the two.

-Stop, heel sit. HOLD STILL SO I CAN HIT YOU!
The odd line rushed up the stairs. Ranma immediately followed, as did
Cologne.

--

An eye opened. She looked around carefully, careful not to move her head.
That would alert whoever held her that she was awake. (Nothing on this side)
She closed her eye and turned over to the other side. (I hope that looked
like I was sleeping) She opened her eye again and looked around. There was
nothing there either. (Where are the cameras or the guards? They must be
watching me in some way? Maybe they're asleep)

She sat up in the bed, held the covers close to her and looked over the room
once more. (There is no way for anyone to know I'm awake! I might as well
try now) She tossed the covers away and jumped out of the bed. The plant
beside the door didn't stir.

She tipptoed up to the door rolling on the balls of her feet in an attempt
to make as little sound as possible. Tentatively she pushed at it. To her
great surprise it slid open. Just as silently as she had walked to the door,
she left the room

--

*Shush* The door slid open. A wet dog looked at Nabiki as she entered the
kitchen. He looked down at Kasumi, who still was unconscious, and began
licking her cautiously again.

Nabiki blinked. The kitchen was virtually destroyed. There was a huge hole
in one wall, lots of tears in another and the table was smashed to bits. A
tray with foodstuffs had fallen on the floor beside her sister and had been
left alone by the dog. (What happened here?) She bent down to Kasumi to look
closer.

-Kasumi? What happened? Are you listening? Can you hear me? HELLO?
(She's as much under as Ranma is when she is asleep) She walked over to the
tap to get some water. (Remember, hot water, don't want to change) She
turned on the water but none came out.

-Phew, I don't know if that's a relief or something to worry about. But I
should wake her up quickly.

Looking around, Nabiki spotted a waterskin.

-That'll do, she said and picked it up, why are there several pockets in
this thing? Oh well, I'll just pick one and�

The dog saw what she was doing and growled menacingly. Before Nabiki could
put the waterskin away, the dog took a snipe at her leg. She tried to jump
to the side but she dropped the waterskin, on Kasumi. The dog whimpered and
looked at the result. Nabiki just stared.

-WHAT HAVE I DONE!!? KASUMI!

--
              ---
Can you see the red thread,
the yellow or the blue?

Can you see the green one
inbetween the two?

Take a look at all of it.
Can you see it too?

It all forms a tapestry.
A tapestry for you

              <Dewin Duvae>
              ---
---
Authors Notes: Never EVER let your own characters look at your story before
you submit it. It's not the fact that you're crazy, it's the fact that they
get so annoying. "Couldn't we do this instead of that" or "I want it to end
THIS way" can only be heard so many times before you feel nausea rising up
from the bowels of your stomach.

Anyway, please C&C. Anyone got ideas for Kasumi? What do you think is in her
clothes?

That said, let's greet todays guest.
-Takahashi is the queen. She is original with loads of money. She does not
make garbage. But this is inbetween. None of this is mine own I have not the
means. All of it is borrowed. Think of it a freindly jest that imitates the
queens. TrallaLAA!
*Brrrm, Fwosh*
You just HAD to sing did't you!
-Hmph! Everybody's a critique. Uncouth barbarians!
*Sigh* Does it always rain when you try to sing?
-Only lately. I'm telling you nature is barbaric! It probably can't tell the
difference between a good tune and the mating call of a moose.
I don't understand how it can rain indoors though.
-It's a conspiracy I tell you! It's all natures fault.
Anyway... What do you think of the story?
-What do you think of my singing?
Ah, I see. That bad huh?
-You... you... BARBARIAN!
*Badoing*
Yow! Watch where you swing that thing.
-I have never been so insulted!
Don't be like that. All I want to know is what you think of my story.
-You'll get nothing out of me.
What if I said that you'r singing can be likened to Akanes or C-ko:s
cooking?
-It won't work. They're probably the worst cooks in known history.
Well... they are famous for their cooking.
-So, they are good?
As good as world reknowned!
-That's good then!
So... what do you think of my story?
-What story?
Nevermind!

duvae@hotmail.com / duvae@swipnet.se
(Some people should never... I hereby throw away all my Asterix albums! On
second thought, he could be a lone case.)