Subject: [FFML] [R.5][Eddings][rewritten]Ranmariad ch1
From: "Neplusultra" <muse@neplusultra.org>
Date: 1/24/2001, 4:11 PM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

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   It was a cold and dreary day, with the

slate gray clouds hanging low in the sky

and there was the promise of a late winter

snow in the air.  There was a group of

waggoneers traveling along a winding road

through the picturesque, forested hills

of backwoods Sendaria.  They were a motley

bunch of travelers, obviously from many

different countries, of course that type

of thing was generally to be expected.



   One of the travelers stood apart from

the rest.  Rather than riding in the

wagons, or walking alongside the oxen

like the rest she rode a horse, and

kept a fairly good distance from the

rest of the group.



   From one of the covered wagons

a woman's voice drifted out to our

rider.  "Ranko dear!  Come back

into the wagon with Ukyou and myself.

We can talk.  You can tell us

all about Ranma, and I'll do

your hair.  It would look so

much better if you took it out of

that braid."



   The rider drew her cloak more tightly

about herself.  And trying to suppress

her shivering turned her head to the

gray sky and moaned a quiet prayer, "Dear

Gods above, WHY ME?"



	The Ranmariad

	 Book 1 Chapter 1 by Neplusultra

	  I don't own any of these folks.

	  Takahashi and the Eddings do.

	  Don't sue me.  I wouldn't have

	  joined the military if I had

	  any money to give you.  Don't

	  like it? Let me know and I'll

	  stop.



   He didn't know what he'd ever done

to cause the gods to hate him so much.

He'd had a normal enough childhood

with his Aunt Pol.  He'd had good friends,

and good memories.



   In fact some of his earliest memories

were of him hiding under the table in

Aunt Pols kitchen.  Trying to steal something

meant for dessert for Ukyou.  Sometimes even

for Hiroshi or Daisuke.  It was like a

game to him.  He'd hide under the table

'till he thought no one was looking, and

then he'd make a grab for whatever pastries

they were making that day.  His efforts

were usually met with a spoon in Aunt Pols

fist and resulted in his being banished

from the kitchen for the rest of the day.

But every so often he'd reach for the

tray and his hand actually came away with

some sweet delicacy or another.  Then

it was a mad dash for the barn to meet

with his friends, and splitting the treat

between themselves.



   Ah yes, those were the good old days.

Too bad they ended when he was six.  Yes,

that was definitely the end of it.  And

if he had to trace all his problems back

to their source it was a simple matter.

They all led back to the storyteller,

old fool that he is, Genma.



   Oh, he was a good storyteller all right.

Probably had something to do with all those

times he had to talk his way out of doing

any actual work, and more often out of

trouble.  The fact that he could make almost

any sort of wildlife sound imaginable

without even trying only added to his

prowess at impressing a dinner or two out

of just about anyone.



   Not only was he good at talking his way

out of trouble, he was also quite adept at

fighting his way out of it.  Being quite an

accomplished martial artist.  That fact being

the whole reason that he took Ranma away from

the farm with him in the first place.



   Well, teaching him how to fight and

educating him anyway.  The fool seemed

to think that he knew everything about

anything.  If you combine that with his

penchant for drinking you saw the cause

for about half of his problems right

there.



   Anyway, Genma had come to the farm

when Ranma was about six in his usual

guise as a traveling bard.  He'd visited

several times before in Ranma's short

life, and at the time he was actually

quite fond of the disreputable looking

fellow.  He and Aunt Pol had a big

argument, Ranma couldn't remember what

it was exactly about, but the end result

was the ten year trip to hell that Genma

called a training trip.



   Well, to be quite honest he was a good

teacher, and the trip wasn't all that

bad.  But why did the fool _ever_ even

_think_ about going to the Jusenkyou

springs.  How the old man ever got around

getting a curse he'd never know.



                   ()()()



   "Here sirs, at last, is the legendary

training ground of the Jusenkyou springs,"

Said the guide they'd hired at the last

village.  They hadn't had the money, but

it was the only way to find anything off

of the roads in this damned jungle.

"I no know why you want to find this

cursed place customers.  Acording to

ancient legend anyone who..."



   In hindsight it probably would have

been better if Genma hadn't knocked over

the guide before he'd finished the horrible

tale.  But what can you do right?  They

had leapt to the wooden poles sticking

out of the small springs and proceeded to

jump from one to another practicing their

balance while sparing.  The guide was

running about franticly trying to say

something to them about the springs, but

neither paid any attention to the man.

Finally, Genma managed to place a kick

in Ranmas gut, sending him flying into

one of the pools.  At which point the

guide shrieked like a girl and fainted.



   When his head broke the water of the

cold spring Ranma sensed that something

was wrong.  He looked down at himself

as he dragged his body out of the pool,

and noticed that he wasn't a he anymore.

In fact, he was a she.  The fact that

she wasn't a he, and was in fact a she

couldn't be right because, well, not

five seconds ago she had been a he.

Ranmas mind was caught up in this mental

maze for a few seconds when it promptly

fell on the object of all blame, Genma.



   Looking up at the fool, Ranma saw

red.  Stopping to brush her hair out

of her eyes she leapt at the coward in

a bout of righteous fury while Genma

fled.



                   ()()()



   By the time she'd caught up with

Genma and beaten him into the ground

a bit it was nearing evening, and

she had no clue where they were.  There

was nothing to do, but prepare the

fire and wait for Genma to wake up.



   The wait wasn't that long.  "What's

the matter with you boy?  Overreacting

like that!"



   "Overreacting?  In case you didn't

notice old man, I'm not a man anymore.

I'm a _girl_!  What the hell did you

go to me?  What kind of sick training

ground was that place?"



   "I just thought that they were legends."



   "Legends?  Do these look like legends

to you?" she said opening her shirt a little.



   Genma glanced for a second and promptly

looked away.  "Ahem.  Yes, well.  According

to the legends if you use hot water you'll

turn back into yourself again.  Simple right?

You start the fire, and I'll go get some

water."  So saying he got up and went off into

the woods with a small pot.



   Grumbling to herself Ranma set about

starting the fire.  It took a couple

of tries but eventually the tinder

caught.  At which point Ranmas eyes

grew to the size of small saucers and

she began to glance about wildly.



   "Ranma," Genma said striding

back into the small clearing,

"we're in luck. There's a small...

What's wrong?"



   "They're scared," Ranma said in

a small voice.



   "Who're scared boy?  I don't see

anyone."



   "The trees."



   "What?"



   "The trees, they say they're afraid of

the fire."



   Genma took a closer look at the boy turned

girl and poured the water he'd found over the

fire.  "Sorry boy, no fire tonight.  Now, go

talk to your new friends."



   Ranma just stared.  "What are you talking about

old man?  And why the hell did you put out the

fire?"



   "Boy, I did have somewhere I planned on going,

but we'll have to take a small detour.  And you

don't turn into a girl.



   Ranma just looked at him like he was crazy.

"I'm not a girl?  What the hell do you think these

are old man?" she said, again baring her chest.



   Genma just turned around saying one word, "Dryad."



                   ()()()



Well folks let me know what you though ok.

This isn't the final draft, but this is

when your comments actually can make a

difference ya know.  I'm sorry for any

grievous errors, this is about the best

I can do spelling and grammar wise on my

own.  Personally I'm not completely

satisfied with the choppiness of the

chapter.  Though it's just background

in this chapter mostly.  Just FYI I'm

actually not really busy anymore, so I

don't anticipate a 2.5 year wait before

I come out with another chapter (heh...).

Actually it's one of my New Years resolutions

to actually write again.  Anyway, enough

ramblings.



v 1.0

Draft    : 1/23/2001

Released : 1/24/2001

Revision : -

Final    : -





Sir Olin 'Neplusultra' Petty

www.neplusultra.org









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