Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own or claim any
legal rights to it in any way (no matter how many times I stand outside of
Rumiko's house begging for her to adopt me).
All C&C is welcomed. I need it.
'' Single quotes indicate thoughts.
[] Brackets indicate dialog spoken in a language other than Japanese.
RYOUGA IN OZ
Chapter One: Welcome to Kansas have a Sunny Shiny day
The sky was filled with ominous midnight clouds. The enormous masses clashed
in an epic battle of Titans. The sun had already fled the battle; giving up
against the onslaught. Wind gods howled in fury as they tried to blow down
anything in their path. Chaos and destruction were left in their wake. A
storm was brewing.
A traveler looked up as lightning illuminated the area for a split second.
His dark hair was disheveled. Beads of sweat clung to his brow. In his eyes
was a look of a tortured soul.
The wind picked up, and the traveler held a hand up to his eyes to cover
them from the dust. His eyes lit up with determination when the dust
settled. He could brave this storm. He'd been through worse. He would
survive . . . as long as it didn't rain.
The traveler wearily shifted his bulky pack on his shoulders. Thunder
crashed in the sky, causing him to quicken his pace. Lightning crackled
against the sky a few moments later like a yellow sword cutting through the
darkness. His road hardened eyes squinted as they surveyed the sky. The dim
light coming through a hole in the clouds didn't allow him to see very far.
He would have asked for directions, but hours ago the road he had been
traveling had degraded into a rural dirt road. The rough ground was composed
of hard pieces of flint and limestone that crunched underneath his feet.
Seemingly endless desolate plains extended on either side of the road,
garnished with the occasional stubborn plant that refused to die.
He continued on despite his trials. It was the way of the warrior. They do
not give up at the first sign of hardship. They do not crumble. They rise
above the pain and continue the fight. Nothing can bring down a true
warrior--
except for large road signs.
"Owwwwww!"
The traveler, Ryouga Hibiki, look around at his surroundings.
"Where the hell am I now?" He looked up at the object of his pain stopped in
front of a road sign at the side of the road. It had been green and white
once, but now its metal surface was rusted and the letters were worn. Its
concrete foundation had started to decay causing it to lean slightly to the
right. It wasn't written in his native language, but he knew enough to
decipher it.
WELCOME TO KANSAS
HAVE A HAPPY
SUNNY SHINY
DAY
"There's a Kansas in France?" 'I thought that Kansas was in the U.S.? Heh it
would be so much easier if those damn politicians didn't keep changing their
city names. One day Moscow is in India the next England . . . WHY CAN'T THEY
MAKE UP THEIR DAMN-- Ryouga cut off as something bounced off his face,
slamming him into the ground.
"OH HO HO HO!" The thing laughed maniacally as it sped away leaving the lost
boy imbedded into the ground. The human doormat peeled himself off the rough
ground and angrily wiped the bits of rock off his already muddy clothing.
'Damn why does this always happen to me?! People see me and they think . . .
SPRINGBOARD! LET'S JUMP ON HIS FACE!' He growled and continued down the
dusty path.
'Damn you Ranma for starting this trend!' He quickened his pace as thunder
boomed in the distance.
----
A few hours later, Ryouga stopped for a brief rest at a small farm. It
contained a quaint white farm house encircled with a picket fence and a
massive creaking red barn. The paint of the farm house was peeling slightly
and looked a bit homely.
The sky was completely black now. Black storm demons had swallowed the sun
whole. The wind thrashed at everything angrily and debris flew through the
air in a chaotic war between the forces of nature. Ryouga gave a small start
as he noticed the black funnel cloud in the distance.
"Damn it all," he cursed under his breath.
The lost boy brought a hand up to protect his face and continued his trudge
through the wind. The farm seemed abandoned and various forgotten farm
equipment littered the ground. An old green tractor lay by the wayside with
the keys still in the ignition
"Hello? Is anyone here?" His question was answered with silence. Ryouga
sighed deeply and was about to turn around when a sound reached his ears. He
stopped dead in his tracks and glanced around. No one was in sight. He
waited a few moments for the sound to return. It didn't. The only sound on
the lonely farm he could hear was the wind and the beating of his own heart.
["AUNTIE EM! AUNTIE EM!"] Ryouga started at the sound of a girl's voice.
["Hello?"] Ryouga yelled back in English. His English wasn't great but it
was passable. It was probably the only thing he had actually learned in
school. Ryouga thought the voice sounded like it was coming from the barn.
He wasn't completely sure though, it was hard to tell over the wind. Ryouga
set out towards what he thought was the barn.
He reached it and looked at the door, puzzled.
"Hey why is there a screen door to the barn?" The lost boy shrugged and
walked through it. The wind violently slammed it back on its hinges. He sat
his heavy pack down on the ground and tried to orientate himself. The room
had wallpapered walls, clean wooden floors, and a low ceiling. He could have
reached up and touched the ceiling with his fingertips if he had wanted to.
There was also a variety of kitchen appliances in the 'barn'.
"And why is there a stove, and a fridge, and..." He stopped mid speech.
There was an odd but vaguely familiar scent coming from the shadows.
Cautiously he walked over toward it. The scent was coming from a bucket. The
bucket seemed to be full of . . .
"PORK CHOPS! AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryouga jumped back from the bucket as disturbing
memories flooded his brain. In his haste, he didn't notice the bucket of
water on the floor that was there to collect drips. And of course, tripped
right over it.
"AHHHH . . . BWEEEEEEEE!" Ryouga blinked and looked down at himself. 'Oh
hell all, things couldn't get any worse' . . .
["AUNTIE EM! AUNTIE EM!"] Ryouga's eyes widened.
A young girl walked into the farm house. Her dark hair was in braided pig
tails. She wore a knee length blue and white checkered dress. The girl
glowed red. Steam rose off of her enraged form as she stomped into the
kitchen.
["THAT JERK! Treating me like some helpless damsel in distress! I can take
care of myself!"] She pushed her hair out of her face. ["Honestly, couldn't
he have at least helped me look for toto?"] The girl wiped the water of her
face angrily.
Ryouga watched the girl from the floor. She reminded him of someone but he
couldn't quite put a finger on who it was. A stray droplet of water slid
down his nose.
"Achoo!" The girl froze in surprise and whirled around toward him. Ryouga
glanced up at her with apprehension.
["Oh! What are you doing here?"] she asked going from furious to normal in
2.5 seconds. She crouched down next to Ryouga.
"Bwee?"
["Are you lost?"] The girl picked up the dripping wet piglet and held him
away from her.
"Bweee!" . . . 'Oh yeah I keep forgetting I can't talk.'
["You poor thing! You must be so scared!"] the girl replied and cradled him
in her arms. Her arms felt warm and comforting against cold wet body. A
turmoil of thoughts burst into his brain, not least of which was betraying
Akane. Ryouga squirmed in the girls arms.
The girl looked down at him and smiled instantly melting all of his
struggles. 'I think she likes me!' He shook his head violently. 'No! Akane
is the only one for me. I have to remember that! . . . Even if this girl is
kind of cute.'
While Ryouga was busy struggling through his inner battle the girl had
started to walk to the far end of the house. They passed through an archway
in the kitchen and entered a paneled hallway. The girl opened a door at the
end and walked through it.
The room was compact and dark. Pale light filtered into the room from a
small window. A large Hello Kitty lamp sitting on the desk looked almost
nightmarish in the shadows. Through the window, all that could be seen was
the the rain coming down in torrential sheets. The ever-constant roar of the
wind mixed in with the death groans of the little house. The girl plopped
down on a canopied bed at the center of the room.
["Don't worry you poor baby! My name's Dorothy and I'll take care of you!"]
She scratched him between his ears gently making him temporarily forget his
eternal battle. She noticed his bandanna and fingered it between her index
finger and thumb. ["Do you belong to someone?"]
"Bwee." He nodded. Dorothy giggled at his human like gesture.
["I used to have a pet, but some mean lady took him away."] The girl's grip
tightened in anger at the mention of "a mean old lady". Ryouga eye's bulged
out of his sockets. [His name was Toto. Do you like that name?] 'Why is she
asking me for? Oh no she's not . . .no way! I am NOT going to get caught up
in this again. I learned my lesson. Its bad enough I'm deceiving Akane but
to deceive someone else. . .' The girl pecked him lightly on the cheek.
Ryouga felt his head nod up and down against his own violation.
[OK! Well I can't call you Toto. That wouldn't be very original. How about .
. .
'If she says Charlotte, I swear I'm killing myself right now.'
[Toto2!]
'I'm not sure if I should be relieved or very very frightened'
The wind suddenly increased in its intensity. It roared and ripped at the
house. It felt like it was being ripped from its very foundations. Which, is
exactly what was happening. Objects slammed into the house violently. Ryouga
felt his blood turn to ice water. He had thought he had more time, but time
had won run out. 'Its ok, when it gets quiet that's when we have to start
worrying' An eerie calm abruptly fell onto the house.
Time had run out.
**BOOM!**
The house was shook violently. Dorothy was thrust forward off her bed. She
caught herself at first but a loose floor board caught the end of her toe
and she went hurdling forward. Her head hit the side of her bed and the pig
she was holding flew from her arms. Ryouga landed on his feet and watched
helplessly as she crumbled to the floor motionless. Trotted as fast as he
could to her side, he nuzzled her face with his snout. Her body continued to
remain motionless. Ryouga kept trying to wake her and didn't notice a large
shadow looming in front of him.
He looked up just in time to see a large desk roll toward him. He tried to
dodge left and then he tried to dodge right. He was too late however, and
the desk slammed into Ryouga at speeds only a small animal could appreciate.
His little body was crushed into the wall. The last thing he noticed before
he fell unconscious was someone riding a bicycle outside the window . . .
**SLAM!**
Ryouga's world faded into blackness.