HALF A SORCERESS

Chapter 2: Race! The Great Jusenkyou Runaround!

written by: Jussi Nikander

Ranma 1/2 is a copyright by Rumiko Takahashi.
Slayers is copyright by Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, TV
Tokyo, SOFTX, Egg Films
Not used under authorisation, but since I don't get any
money from this, don't sue me, okay?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ranma stared at the angry visage of the boy who had just
threatened to kill him.  Who the hell was this guy?  There
was something familiar about him, but he was unable to
place it.

"Don't try to play innocent."  the boy said and ripped a
bandanna off his head, surprisingly revealing another
underneath it.  "You ran out of our duel and now is time for
you to pay for it!"  In a careless violation of the laws of
physics the youngster took off three more bandannas and
started twirling them around at a high speed.

< A magical bandanna!  Where the hell did he get that!? And
who the hell did it??>

<Huh?  What?  Whadda you mean?>  Ranma had almost
recognised the boy when Lina interrupted his thoughts.

<Well, I've seen many magical weapons in my life, but never
a bandanna with infinite ammunition.  I was just wondering
what good does it... LOOK OUT!>

"Huh?"

Shouting "Die Ranma!" the stranger threw the now wildly
spinning bandannas at the distracted boy who had hard time
dodging them.  Holding his umbrella high he charged at
Ranma and tried to nail him with a massive overhead blow.
Ranma dodged nimbly to the side and jumped back.

Lina  narrowed her eyes in anger. Acting on instinct, she tried
to cast a Fireball, but nothing happened. The young
sorceress realised that she couldn't do anything since she
wasn't controlling the body.

"Okay then.  I dunno who you are, but if you want a fight, I'll
give you one." Ranma said, shifting to a ready stance.

<Ranma! Give me control!> Lina shouted.

The boy whipped around and charged again at Ranma,
umbrella ready.

<Huh? What?> Ranma said, trying to split his attention
between the fight and Lina. Thus it was almost too late when
he realised that the boy was swinging his umbrella at him.
Ranma was barely able to dodge out of the way, and block
the following kick. He jumped back to get some space.

The stranger smirked.  "You're pathetic, Ranma! You fought
better than this back in junior high!"

Ranma ignored the taunt, concentrating on Lina instead.
<Don't do that while I fight, Lina! I don't need the
distraction!!>

<Give me the body and I'll blast him!>

<Give you the body? Why? It was me he challenged!!>

<Well, I'm in here now too and I can...LOOK OUT!!>

The boy's smirk turned into a snarl, when Ranma didn't
respond to his taunt. Shouting "Don't you dare to ignore me,
Saotome!!" he threw his umbrella at Ranma who dodged to
the side.  But it was only a feint, and was followed by a hail of
bandannas and a flying kick.  Ranma was able to dance out
of the way of the bandannas and duck under the kick, but his
gi-top got torn from several places in the process.

Ranma looked at his ruined clothes, and then to the strange
boy, who had just caught his umbrella as it had come back
to him like a boomerang.  He was pissed off.  "This was my
favourite..." <That's it Lina! You stay back, while _I'll_ toast
this guy!> Whoever this guy was, he had picked the wrong
day to challenge Ranma Saotome. His day was weird enough
without any mysterious stranger appearing from nowhere,
challenging him and actually scoring a hit.

A remote part of Lina's brain noticed how the boy's umbrella
returned to him and wondered if it was magical too.  Most of
her was concentrating on the fight. <I would have ended this
by now! I'm much better...>

<This is personal! Shut up you crazy chick!!> Lina winced at
the volume.

Ranma seemed to be angry.  Still, he had insulted her.
<WHAT DID YOU SAY!!!!>

Trying to ignore his ringing head, Ranma jumped  high into
the air and came down with his foot extended.  Like he had
expected the stranger tried to block with his umbrella.  Still
mid-air Ranma shifted his weight around a little and kicked
the boy to the head with his other foot, landing behind him.
While the boy was still dazed Ranma whipped around and
tried to trip him.  In his haste, and because of the ringing in
his head, Ranma's trip missed, and he had to jump back to
avoid another strike from the umbrella.

<This is my fight and I can handle it just fine if you'll just stop
interrupting!!> Ranma said while preparing for the next
attack.

<Like how well you've done so far!?> Lina angrily retorted.

<Shut up! He's coming again!!>

The boy shouted "Coward!" and  shot around, trying to nail
Ranma with another mighty swing of his umbrella.  Ranma
jumped over it and tried to kick him again, but he other boy
easily blocked with his free hand.

The umbrella had bothered Ranma thorough the whole
fight, it was familiar somehow.  Just as the boy swung it at
him again, the memory hit Ranma.  "Ryouga?" he said out
aloud.

Lina blinked. What had a ryouga to do with this? <What?>

<Ryouga's a fri...UUUFF!> Ranma was interrupted by a
crashing blow from an incredibly heavy umbrella to the
stomach.  He was thrown backwards towards the edge of the
cliff.  <Ouchh... That thing is _heavy_. Shut up, I
need to concentrate.>

<I...> Just then Lina realised that she didn't know how
Ranma could give the control of the body to her. Everything
she did had just made the fight harder for him. Damn!!
Lina tried to get hold of her anger, and even succeeded for
the most part.

Ranma held a hand to his stomach and looked up at the
sneering boy, presumably Ryouga. "Ryouga, is that you?"

"So, you finally admit knowing me Ranma." the boy
answered. "And yes, it's me, Ryouga.  I've followed you all
the way to China, to settle the duel which you cowardly ran
out from!"  Grabbing a few more bandannas Ryouga attacked
again.

"Ryouga,"  Ranma tried to explain, while dodging Ryouga's
bandannas and ducking under a roundhouse kick.  "I waited
for you for three _days_."  Most of Ranma's anger had
drained away and been replaced with confusion when he had
recognised his opponent.

Oh great, some old enemy of his. Lina thought. Just my luck.

"Yes, but you were gone on the fourth day when I finally
found the place!"  Ryouga removed the belt from his pants
and snapped it into ready position.  Lifting his umbrella he
attacked again.

Ranma dodged out of the way and automatically countered
with a few punches, which were mostly blocked.  "How could
it take four days for you to find the place?  It was right behind
your house!"

"Silence, Ranma!  We'll end this now!"  Ryouga jumped up
into the air and came down with his umbrella extended
below him.

Ryouga landed at the cliff's edge with a loud crash, causing a
little crater to be formed.  For a second he knelt there,
leaning at his umbrella.  Then he stood up and turned to face
Ranma, smirking.

"Pretty good, Ranma, it seems like you've learned a little."
The smirk turned into a sneer. "But it's not enough!"

"You never could..."  Ranma halted when he noticed that the
place where Ryouga was standing was going to peel off from
the rest of the cliff.  "Ryouga!  Get out of there!  It's going to
fall!"

"What?"  Ryouga quickly glanced down and saw a fracture
forming quickly at the stone he was standing at.  He looked
up at Ranma just as the ledge where he was standing broke
off and he fell. "Raaaanmaaa!!  This is all your fauuuuuult!"

Ranma knelt at the edge of the cliff and looked down at the
falling boy.   He was unable to do anything as Ryouga fell...
straight into one of the many springs of Jusenkyou.

Ranma took a few deep breaths and stood up. <Now, why
the hell did you poke your head into my fight, Lina?> He
angrily asked.

<I...>  Lina took a deep breath.  <I'm sorry Ranma. It was just
that when he attacked, I tried to blast  him with a Fireball,
and couldn't do anything since you were controlling the body.
I guess I panicked then. I'm sorry.>

<I... Uhh...> Ranma scratched the back of his head. He was
still pretty angry at Lina for interrupting his fight, but she had
apologised. <I guess, it's all right. And we should go looking
for Ryouga in any case.>

                        * * *

Ranma looked around, trying to locate the pool where
Ryouga had fallen.  Carefully, he made his way around the
many pools, not wanting to risk falling into another one.

<You see anything?> he asked.

<Only what you see.  What else could I see?>

<Oh, yeah.  I wasn't thinking.> Ranma answered, still looking
around.  No sign of Ryouga, or whatever he had turned into.

<Probably a habit of yours.>

<Hey!  What was that supposed to mean!>  Before the
argument could go further Ranma spotted a black something
crawling out of a spring.  <Hey, what's that?>  He carefully
made his way towards the spring.

<Hmm...>  Lina looked closely, or as closely as she was able
to, Ranma being in control of the body, at the thing.
<I think it's your friend Ryouga, turned into a small piglet.>

<Huh?  How do you know?> Ranma didn't have a clue how
Lina had found that out.

<Look at the bandanna.> Lina answered.  That should be
obvious to anyone who can think a little, she thought to
herself.

Ranma knelt down next to the piglet that was looking at him
with hatred in its eyes.  "Ryouga?"

The piglet let out a loud "BWEEE!" and bit at Ranma's hand.

"OWWW!!  Leggo of me!!"  Ranma swayed around, trying to
pull the piglet off.

<Look out!>  Lina shouted when Ranma was about to fall into
another spring.  She didn't want to know what would happen
if he fell in.  Whatever it was, it probably wouldn't be healthy
for her.

"Huh?  What?"  Ranma didn't notice the spring until he lost
his balance.  Wildly swinging his arms he grabbed hold of
one of the bamboo poles coming out of the spring and by
wrapping himself around it, Ranma was able to prevent
himself from falling in.  The piglet let go of his hand and
jumped off, landing next to the spring, and sneered at
Ranma.

"Hey!  What did you do that for!"  Ranma shouted at Ryouga,
as he started climbing for the top of the pole.  The pig just
stared at him, its eyes full of hate.

<I'd say that confirms it.  It's Ryouga.> Lina commented
while Ranma was climbing the pole.  He reached the top and
flipped over to momentarily stand at one hand, before
pushing himself to the air and landing a few meters from the
piglet.

<You sure?> Ranma asked while he watched the piglet.  The
small creature backed away a little, still trying to murder
Ranma with its gaze.

<It crawled out of a spring, it has a bandanna and it seems to
hate you.  I'm pretty sure.>

<Okay.> Ranma said, moving a little closer to the retreating
animal.  <What do we do now?>

<Knock it out.  Then we can decide what to do.>

<Yeah, then maybe I can reason with him.>

<He didn't sound very sensible to me.>

<Ryouga isn't very sensible but..  Well, anyway, here
goes...>  Ranma rapidly closed in on the little piglet.

Ryouga was terrified.  He had fallen into a weird spring and
somehow changed into a small animal of some sort.  When
he was still shocked from the change a gigantic Ranma had
come.  Fortunately he hadn't been totally defenceless in this
form and had almost managed to trip Ranma into another
pool.  Now things seemed to be bad though, his hated rival
was coming for him, and this time he seemed to be ready for
anything a small animal could do.

Ryouga backed away in horror.  He had to stop, though,
when his back hoof didn't find any land to step on.  He
glanced behind him, realising that he was standing next to a
spring.  The lost boy snapped his gaze back to Ranma, only
to see a huge fist descending on him.

Sheesh, do I look stupid or something, Ranma thought just
before he hit Ryouga.  A martial artist, fighting a small piglet.
I'm glad pop isn't here.  He then picked up the now-
unconscious piglet and started making his way back to the
Guide's hut.

<Ranma, stop ! We have to pick up his umbrella and belt!>

Ranma stopped, confused.  <Huh? Why?>

<We can't just let powerful magical weapons laying around!>
Lina said in the voice she had used several times with
Gourry.  Some people just are _so_ dense, she thought.

For a moment Ranma just stood there, dumbfounded.
What magical weapons was Lina talking about?  Slowly,
understanding dawned on him and Ranma began to smile,
then to snicker and finally he burst out laughing.

<Hey!  What's so funny!>

With an effort Ranma was able to calm himself enough to
answer.  <Ryouga's weapon's ain't magical.  I'm not sure how
he does it, but he's using martial arts techniques for those
effects, not magic.>

Now it was Lina's turn to be confused.  <Not magical...?>

<Yeah.>  Ranma snickered.  <Let's see if I can explain it to
you...>

                        * * *
A worried Guide sat inside the hut.  Younger Mr. Customer
had left after he had heard about his curse, and elder Mr.
Customer had gone looking for him soon afterwards and the
Guide had heard nothing from either one since then.

He thought about the younger Mr. Customer, who apparently
had the soul of the girl who had drowned in the Nyannichuan
inside him.  That was something the Guide had never before
witnessed and it could have dire consequences.

The Chinese man took a long puff from his pipe and leaned
back.  There was nothing he could do before either Mr.
Customer returned.  Meanwhile it was probably for the best
to plan what to do with younger Mr. Customer.  There weren't
that many people who could be able to help... The Guide's
musings were soon interrupted when the door opened and
younger Mr. Customer came in, carrying a small black piglet.

Ranma looked around in the hut.   The Jusenkyou Guide sat
in a corner, smoking a pipe, but there was no sing of Genma.

"Have you seen my father?"

The Guide jumped out of his chair.  "Aiyah!  No, Mr.
Customer! Older Mr. Customer go out to look for you.  I have
not seen older Mr. Customer since!"  He peered at the piglet.
"You find a nice piglet Mr. Customer!  Should I cook it and
make us very nice pork buns, yes?"

Ranma looked at the still-unconscious piglet in his arms, then
at the Guide and back at the piglet.  Cook Ryouga?  He
looked once again at the Guide, who was calmly gazing
back, waiting for an answer. "Uhh... Errr..."  Was all Ranma
managed to say.

<No?> Lina supplied.

"No!"  Ranma shouted little louder than was necessary.
"Could you just bring me some cold and hot water?"

"Hot water?" The Guide asked.  "Why Mr. Customer need hot
water?"

"Uhh, this..." Ranma said, pointing at the piglet, "is a... friend
of mine, who had come here to... ehh..."

<Kill you?> Lina suggested.

"...kill me."  The Guide stared curiously at Ranma.  It seemed
that younger Mr. Customer had some very strange friends...
or maybe he had just misunderstood it.  His Japanese wasn't
the best, after all.

Ranma quickly realised just what he had said and corrected.
"No!  I mean he came looking for me!  That's what I meant to
say!"

<Why did you do that?> an irritated Ranma asked mentally.

<Can you deny it?  This 'friend' of yours barged in shouting
'Ranma! Prepare to die!' and he did seem quite sincere.>

<Naah!  It's nothing!  Ryouga's always shouting something
like that, but doesn't really mean it.>

<You sure?>  Lina wasn't assured.  This Ryouga really
seemed to have been serious.

<Yeah!  Sure I'm sure!> Truth to tell, Ranma wasn't.  Ryouga
had seemed to be a little upset all the time, back in the junior
high, but never before had Ranma seen him so angry.  He
stopped that line of thought when he realised the Guide was
talking to him.

"Mr. Customer?  Mr. Customer?  You all right, yes?"  The
Guide had suddenly realised that younger Mr. Customer was
no longer paying attention to him, but instead had just stood
there, staring at nothing.  Fortunately he seemed to snap out
of it.

"Uhh... What did you say?  I wasn't really paying attention."

"I say: I have no hot water.  But if Mr. Customer want, I heat
water for Mr. Customer.  Do Mr. Customer want cold water
now?"

"Umm... Sure." Ranma answered.  He wasn't quite sure what
was going on and was nervously scratching the back of his
head.

The Guide walked to a large barred at a corner of the room
and took a glassful of water from it.  Unfortunately he tripped
and splashed the water on Ranma and Ryouga on his way
back.

"Hey!  What did you do that for!"

The Guide scrambled back to his feet, clutching his dropped
hat and looking very embarrassed.  "I be very sorry Mr.
Customer!  I fall and splash Mr. Customer with water!  I be
very sorry!  I heat water now to change Mr. Customer back,
yes?"

"Yes!  Please!" An annoyed Ranma answered.  <Damn!  This
guy's really making me paranoid!> He added mentally.

<How so?>

<He seems to be somewhat stupid and clumsy, but there are
times when I think it's all a cover and he's laughing at me
behind my back.>

<Oh.  He doesn't seem to be the sneaky kind to me, though...
But shouldn't you be worrying about your friend?>

<Oh, yeah, right.  Thanks> Ranma looked down at the piglet
she was carrying.  The small animal stared back at her, its
eyes as wide as they could be.

"Bweee?"

                        * * *

The splash of water awoke Ryouga.  The returning of
consciousness was a slow and painful process, and he was
confused, distorted, and his body felt odd, alien.  What had
happened? The last thing Ryouga remembered was...
Ranma!  A... gigantic... Ranma...?

Ryouga warily opened his eyes and looked around.  It
seemed that he was held in a lap of a strange... gigantic
caucasian girl who was apparently speaking with an equally
gigantic man who looked like he was Chinese.  What on
earth was going on?  Nervous, Ryouga looked down.
Instead of hands, he saw a pair of small hooves . Ryouga
closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and looked again.  Still
hooves.  Slowly he looked at the rest of himself.  A piglet??
What had happened to him??  He stared up at the girl who
soon shifted her gaze down.

"Bwee?"

Ranma looked down at Ryouga at total loss of words.  <What
do I do now?> She asked frantically.

<Better tell him what's happened.>

Nodding, Ranma lifted the confused piglet so it was at her
eye level. "Look, Ryouga, old buddy..."

<Stupid!> Lina interrupted her.  <Don't tell him who you are!>

<Huh?  Why not?>

<It's safer that way!  He was trying to kill you! >

<Umm... I don't think he can do much the way he is.>

<Eh... You're right.  But be careful, okay?  He did bit you
before.>

<Right.>  Ranma tried to gather her thoughts.

Ryouga looked at the strange girl.  His emotions were a
whirling mix of confusion, worry and embarrassment.  The
present situation confused him, as did the fact that the girl
knew him; he was worried for her, since she had suddenly
stopped speaking and was staring at nothing; he was also
very embarrassed, being held by this strange, cute girl.

"Bwee?"

Ranma wretched her thoughts back to the issue at hand and
looked at Ryouga.
"Okay, you probably want to know what's happened."

Ryouga nodded.

"You.. err... fell into the spring of the drowned piglet, I think,
which is one of the many cursed springs of Jusenkyou.
These springs cause you to take the form of whatever
drowned in that spring, a... err... piglet in your case."

Ryouga nodded.  One more thing Ranma would pay for.

"Now, the change isn't permanent.  Hot water changes you
back."

Ryouga nodded again.  Who is this girl?  She's somehow
familiar, but where could I have met her, he thought.

"But, whenever you are splashed with cold water you turn to
your cursed form again."

Ryouga nodded.  She's so cute, he thought.  Where have I
seen her before?

At that moment the Guide turned from the stove he had been
managing.  "Aiyah!  Mr. Customer!  Water hot now!" he
called.

"Uh, right."  Ranma lowered Ryouga to the floor.  "Stay here,
okay?"  She said and walked to get the kettle of hot water the
Guide had prepared.

Ryouga nodded once again and stared after her.  She's so
cute.  I really wonder where I've seen her, he thought.

"You ready?" Ranma asked as she came back with the hot
water.

Ryouga nodded and prepared himself.  As the almost boiling
water fell on him, he felt his body change and grow.  He also
felt a considerable amount of pain, since the water was so
hot. "OWWWW!!! HOT! HOT! HOT!!"

Ranma shot a glance at the Guide who was calmly smoking
his pipe in a chair.  He didn't have to boil the water.  She
then turned her attention back to Ryouga who had, at this
point, covered himself up as well as he could, after realising
that he was now a human and stark naked and in front of a
girl.  A cute girl that is.

"Ryouga?  You okay?"

Ryouga blushed furiously.  "I'm... ahhh... fine!" He finally
stammered.  The girl seemed to be concerned about him!

Ranma was totally oblivious to Ryouga's reaction.  "Er... The
water was a little hot, sorry."

Ryouga blushed even more furiously as he looked at the girl
over his shoulder. "Uhh... It's all right!  I'm fine, really!  Uhh...
What's your name?"

Even if Ranma didn't notice a thing, Lina hadn't missed the
signs. <Don't tell him!>

"Huh?"  Ranma blinked.  <Why not?>

<Uhh... Well...> Lina stammered.  How do you tell a guy that
another guy is falling for him?

<What?... Oh well.>  Ranma opened her mouth before Lina
could react.

"Ranma Saotome."

"R-r-r-ranma?" Ryouga stammered.  Then the girl poured hot
water over herself and her features morphed to those of his
hated rival.

For a moment Ryouga could only stare.  It was Ranma.  The
cute girl was Ranma.  Ranma had once again made a fool
out of him.  Ryouga saw red.
"RRRRAAAAAANMAAAA!!!!!  NOW YOU DIE!!!!!"

Ryouga surged to his feet and threw a wild punch at Ranma,
who instinctively flipped back out of the way.

"Ryouga!  Stop it, buddy!"  Ranma landed by the hut's door.
So much for reasoning with Ryouga, he though.

Ryouga grabbed a conveniently placed towel and made it
into an improvised loincloth.  He then charged at Ranma,
howling "Don't buddy me!!"

Ranma was once again able to dodge, this time by simply
side-stepping, and Ryouga's momentum carried him through
the door and straight at Genma who was returning from his
search, empty handed.  Ranma ran after Ryouga, not
noticing that he stepped on his father.

"Rrrrraaanmaaaa..." Ryouga growled deep in his throat as he
prepared for another attack.  Ranma swallowed involuntarily
as he saw the other boy's eyes.  He had seen Ryouga furious
before, but this was entirely different.  The eternal lost boy
was in total berserk rage.

Howling incoherently Ryouga charged and, as Ranma
dodged once again, plunged to the bushes behind him and
ran quite deep into the forest beyond before he was able
stop himself.

"No! Ryouga! Wait!"  Ranma ran after the other boy.  He
heard a shout of "You can't escape me Ranma!" followed by
the sounds of something bulldozing its way through the
woods, but it was rapidly moving away.  Ranma started to
follow, but Ryouga was long gone.  He could have tracked
him by the trail of destruction, but in his current state of mind
Ryouga was probably far away, and completely lost.

"Damn."

<What?  You wanted him to kill you?> Lina asked.

<No, it's just that Ryouga has absolutely no sense of
direction.>

<Pardon?>

<He gets lost inside his own house.  By now he's probably
half-way across China.>

<Good!  Then he won't bother us anymore!>

Ranma grimaced.  <It ain't that easy.  He always finds his
way back sooner or later and is extremely stubborn.  It's been
almost two years since we were supposed to have that duel.>

<Oboy.>

                        * * *

Genma had woken up long ago and was finishing packing
the packs when Ranma came back in.

"Good, you're back." Genma said. He glanced up at his son
before turning back to finish fastening the packs' last
bindings.  He then took his backpack and handed Ranma his.
"We're leaving."

"Leaving?"

<Leaving?>

"Yes.  There are lots of training grounds left to visit and
places to see."  Genma then walked out through the door
without waiting for an answer.

Ranma just stood there, holding his backpack.  They were
leaving?  Both Ranma and his father had been cursed, and
Genma just intended to walk away, like nothing had
happened.

<Is your father always like this?> Lina asked, breaking
Ranma out of his trance.

<Ummm...> When Ranma started thinking about it, he
remembered other occasions when Genma had acted in a
similar manner.  The time when he had cheated that
shopkeeper in Osaka, when he had swindled a few good-
hearted old ladies out of their money in Hokkaido and several
other occasions.  The only difference was that they usually
had had to run away literally and not just figuratively.

<Yeah.> He finally said.  <I guess he's always like this,
creating a mess, and then running away.>

At that moment Genma poked his head back in.  "Well,
you're coming or not, son?"

Sighing, Ranma lifted his backpack and followed his father
outside.

<Why are you still following him, if he such a jerk?>

<He's still my father.> Ranma answered.  After a while he
added <What else could I do?>

Lina had no answer.
                        * * *

Ranma yawned loudly as he crawled into his sleeping bag.
They had walked a long way that day.  Genma had kept
pressing on, his expression unreadable and eyes fixed
ahead.  It had been as if he had tried to forget the whole
existence of Jusenkyou and the curses. Ranma recalled that
Genma had acted in a similar manner before, when he had
been fleeing from one mess or another.  The Guide had kept
to himself, but Lina had kept on asking about his past and
details about the modern world. It had been nice to know that
they could carry on a conversation without turning it into
argument.  (Well, there had been a few arguments, when
Lina hadn't believed some things about the modern world,
but nothing serious.)

<Ranma, I've been thinking.> Lina suddenly said.

<'Bout what?>

<Well, mostly about all you've told me, and if I'll ever get a
body again.>

"Huh?"

<If you didn't happen to notice, you've been in control of the
body all the time, while I've been just along for the ride.>

<Hey, it's my body!>

<Yes, I know, but I'm inside it now too.  And I think I should
have a chance to be in charge too, every now and then.>

<Well, I don't know...>

There was a short silence while Lina gathered her thoughts.
<Think about it this way: how would you feel if you were just
a ghost who couldn't even control her own actions?>

<Uhh... Right.  That wouldn't be so nice, I think.  But how can
you take control of my... err... our?... body?>

<Well, I was in charge while you were unconscious...>

Ranma winced. <You ain't gonna...>

<...but,> Lina interrupted <I think I could gain control of it if
you would just let me to.>

<Ehhh... How?>

<I'm not quite sure.  I have some ideas we could try, though.>

<Right.>  Ranma let out a mighty yawn  <But lets leave that
for tomorrow, okay?  I don't know about you, but I'm dead
tired.>

<Likewise.  Good night.>

<'Night.>

                        * * *

<Okay, what now?>

Ranma was standing in a small, quiet valley, a mile east of
their camp. Beside him small stream made its way towards
the valley floor and off to the left a few rabbits were curiously
looking at the strange creature that had invaded their home.
All was tranquil, but it made a little to calm the nervous young
boy.

Not that he would admit it to anyone, but what Ranma was
about to try, scared him quite a lot. It's not easy to give up
your body, even temporarily.

Ranma had left the camp after his morning practice session
with Genma and wandered to this small valley so he and Lina
could find out if Lina could take over the body without Ranma
being unconscious.

Lina sighed and gathered her thoughts. <I'm not entirely
sure, but our best shot is probably that you sit down and try
to forget about your body.>

<Huh?>

<I mean, try to shut out all outside stimuli. Try to enter a
meditative state where nothing bothers you. Then I should be
able to take over the body.>

Ranma scratched the back of his head. <Umm... I'm not sure
about that. Meditation ain't one of my strong points you
know...>

<Oh...Umm... Try it anyway, okay. My other ideas are a bit
more complicated and I don't know wheter they work or not.>

Ranma sat down on a large rock. <And you're sure this'll
work?>

<No.>

"Oh, great." Ranma muttered under his breath before he
closed his eyes and tried to find a comfortable position. For a
few minutes he sat there, unmoving, before taking a deep
breath and opening his eyes. <This ain't leading anywhere. I
just can't relax!>

<Ranma, please. I've been stuck inside your head for one
day now and it's already driving me nuts! Please try again.>

Ranma took another deep breath and closed his eyes again.
<Okay, here goes...>

Genma had never bothered to teach Ranma how to meditate,
concentrating on the more physical aspects of the art, so the
boy had very little idea how he could reach the state of mind
Lina had described. Slowly the outside world started to fade
away. The sound of the stream, the cries of the birds in the
sky, the feeling of clothes and the rock below. For a second
he felt like he was drifting in some kind of formless void, then
there was some kind of mental snap and his eyes opened
without him willing them to.

Lina Inverse opened his eyes and smiled.

End of chapter 2
-----------
The Martian.
Jussi.Nikander@alien.nixu.fi
-----------
"Curses! Foiled again!"
        -Skuld