This is the first page or two from my Shannara/Ranma 1/2 crossover and I felt like sharing, giving anyone whose interested a taste of things to come. Tell me what you think, even though theres not much here alot went into what is, so enjoy the tidbit.

-Greg


      The giant black oaks loomed all about in an eerie sentinel fashion as the first shadows of the dying day were cast. The massive trees seemed to choke all other life save their own leaving the red foliage about covering the forest floor sole evidence to the change in season. The forest itself, however did not seem to pose much threat in the mind of Autumn Leah, nor the various wolf packs that hunted the vast expanse of the Black Oaks. The aged Sword of Leah that had been securely strapped against the highland girl's back was enough to put her mind at rest on these matters.
    It was the elusive woodsman she tracked that caused her nerves to stand on high end, trying vainly to expand her senses for early warning of his attack. She held her stave protectively out in front of herself walking on cats feet over the damp forest floor below. She was of fair height and build but remarkably strong for her small frame. Her skin was unnaturally milky white and pure as though not much time had been spent in the sun, though nothing could be further from the truth, and her long fiery red hair fell down past her shoulders in flowing gentle curls. Her features were slight yet remarkably stunning by anyone's standards and her piercing blue eyes gave the impression of ice even in the warmest of her smiles.
      She could see careless signs of his passage marking the path in which he took but took no measure of comfort in the simplicity she found there, he was up to something. Still proceeding in a cautious and evened pace manner she continued on through the endless maze of trees away from the eastern sky which even through the trees she could see the coming of dark.
      Another hour maybe a little longer she thought silently. If he didn't make his move soon she would be forced to make camp for the night and hope for the best.
      The thought of a night spent in these dark woods without a fire in the cooler hours of fall made her soul hang with a sense of dread. Of course she couldn't build a fire with this on-going game of cat and mouse still unresolved, she determined; not if she wanted to win.
      A noise several yards to her left brought her about sharply and she wheeled about no longer masking her own passage. Her eyes darted nervously scanning black oak to black oak trying to quickly determine the source of the noise. She held herself frozen for several moments, breath ragged from the excitement she felt burning in her chest. After a short time she finally concluded fatigue and bottled nerves as the source of the noise and turned to continue her trek westward after the woodsman. It was a lingering doubt combined with finely tuned instincts that kept her journey from ending all together too sudden as she whirled about with grace becoming of a dancer bringing her stave up with both hands to ward off the head blow that came down upon her.
      She leapt back from her attacker readying her stave in a defensive manner. He was a lean burly man of medium height. His blonde hair was trimmed short and cut neatly against his head in much the same way as the curly beard that framed his face. His eyes cast an intense stare upon Autumn as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other. The strike was almost upon the highlander before she thought to defend. With animal like reflexes the bulky man brought his stave down with incredible force knocking the girl from her feet. Without hesitation the man struck with incredible speed at the fallen girl but she was quicker, rolling with stunning agility she jumped to her feet and rolled about the mans backside bringing her stave up to bear and crashing it down upon his shoulder. The man shrugged the blow as if inconsequential and renewed his attack with an even greater fury. Blow after blow the highland girl evaded the onslaught of attacks with an almost inhuman ease. She knocked his stave off guard and brought him up short of breath with a severe knock to the gut. The woodsman hunched over in pain letting a wheeze escape his lips. The girl smiled in-spite of herself and spun the staff down upon his backside to finish the job. The man however was quicker, recovering from the blow inflicted to his gut, he swung his stave up knocking the stave free from the highlanders hands and brought his stave down in a spin into her side knocking her into a nearby oak. He was on top of her with amazing speed slamming the stave down for a final blow. Though yet again the highland girl proved too much for him, sliding the Sword of Leah free of its scabbard  she thrust the sword up in an arch splitting the stave before the mans very eyes. His face lit up in astonishment and he back peddled several paces before he found the sword at his throat.
      "You lose." The girl said with a confident grin.
      The man's face took on a black look and slowly using his index and thumb lowered the blade down from his throat. "You cheated child." He scolded.
      The girl secured the Sword of Leah upon her back once more and shook her head. "How so?"
      "I said use only your stave."
      "You also said use any means to win. I figure that a higher priority than a single petty rule." Autumn explained.
      "And what if you were not to have had the Sword of Leah child? What then?"
      The young girl smiled. "And when wouldn't I have had the Sword of Leah, Uncle?"
      "Autumn I taught you better. Never rely solely on a weapon. It becomes a crutch!"
      "Even so I would of won." The girl chuckled.
      "We'll never know will we?" The man bellowed. Autumn knew when she had crossed the line with her Uncle and felt perhaps this was one of those times.
      Kurtisan Leah watched his niece's eyes drop to the ground and sighed. "You know I'm only hard on you girl because I want you to be the best." He spoke in a newfound kinder voice.
      "I know Uncle Kurt, I shouldn't have used the sword� Sorry." Autumn averted her gaze off to the side and heard her uncle approach.         He gingerly lifted her chin until her eyes found his and felt a slight uneasiness in the chill that he saw there. He knew it wasn't her fault, she had been that way since birth. Eyes like glaciers they seemed to speak of a world of which had turned its back while everything else about the girl suggested a warmth like no other. The man momentarily marveled at the contradiction. "You did well today Autumn. I'll overlook breaking my rules this once today child. You showed a lot of skill these past three days. And I'm very proud of you." The girl blushed and the older man smiled. "It takes a tracker second to none to keep pace with me." He chuckled. "I know, I've had quite a few after me in my lifetime." Autumn grinned at this. She knew her uncle to have been a bit on the edge. Leaving the highlands of Leah at an early age of fifteen he had lived a life of adventure and mischief. He was even rumored to have spent several years traveling with the rovers though he would neither confirm nor deny this. His older brother, Autumns father, had scolded her uncles actions accusing him of not acting in the manner befitting a prince of Leah. But Kurtisan had always shrugged the accusations aside with indifference. He lived life the way he wished and nothing was going to change that.
      Autumn seemed to realize something and gave her uncle an accusing stare. "For someone as wonderful at tracking and deceiving as you claim, you sure left a lot of traces back there."
    Her uncle shrugged. "I didn't wish to spend the night in these woods anymore than you child. Besides" He lifted a finger to her nose. "as good as I am at covering my tracks and as good as you are at tracking this could have bloody well kept on going all the way to the lower Anar. I don't know about you but I'd rather be heading home than dealing with the gnome tribes. At any rate you've proven yourself a decent tracker, it was your fighting skills I wanted to test."
    "You know I'm better with a sword than a stave." The girl protested.
    "Aye, that's why I had you using a stave this time." He answered her cutting off any further debate. "Now lets see about getting out of these forsaken oaks before were forced to make camp." The girl simply nodded.

<<<--------oooooo^oooooo--------->>>

Thats it for now. Prolly won't be posting anymore on this till Chapter one is complete and who knows when that will be. Thanks to anyone who read and super thanks to anyone who responds! (Constructively I might add)

-Greg
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