From - Thu Dec 07 14:44:00 2000 Return-Path: Received: from ffml.fanfic.com (ffml.fanfic.com [63.216.198.158]) by templeton.gt.ed.net (8.9.3/8.8.7) with ESMTP id MAA32377 for ; Thu, 7 Dec 2000 12:34:48 -0500 Received: from ffml.fanfic.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by ffml.fanfic.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 18A981EF49; Thu, 7 Dec 2000 12:32:07 -0500 (EST) Received: with LISTAR (v0.128a; list ffml); Thu, 07 Dec 2000 12:31:45 -0500 (EST) Delivered-To: ffml@fanfic.com Received: from mta11.onebox.com (mta11.onebox.com [216.35.104.111]) by ffml.fanfic.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id C8F951EE19 for ; Thu, 7 Dec 2000 12:31:43 -0500 (EST) Received: from onebox.com ([216.33.158.145]) by mta11.onebox.com (InterMail vM.4.01.03.00 201-229-121) with SMTP id <20001207173117.KJKB8007.mta11.onebox.com@onebox.com> for ; Thu, 7 Dec 2000 09:31:17 -0800 Received: from [4.54.17.1] by onebox.com with HTTP; Thu, 07 Dec 2000 09:31:17 -0800 Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 09:31:17 -0800 Subject: [FFML] (Ranma) A Casket of Nanichuan From: "James Barnhill" To: ffml@fanfic.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit MIME-Version: 1.0 Message-Id: <20001207173117.KJKB8007.mta11.onebox.com@onebox.com> X-archive-position: 16340 X-listar-version: Listar v0.128a Sender: ffml-bounce@fanfic.com Errors-To: ffml-bounce@fanfic.com X-original-sender: mecvolve@zdnetonebox.com Precedence: bulk X-list: ffml Status: O X-Mozilla-Status: 0000 X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 X-UIDL: 396114ef000010c7 A Casket of Nanichuan By James Barnhill Legal Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, instead they belong to Takahashi. But like the demented puppet master I am I hypnotized them so that they would follow my every command. And to think, the doctors are saying that Im getting better! Just goes to show what they know:P -------------------------------------------------- Hello to you, who ever you are. This is my diary, or journal, whichever one means a book of written down memories to you. As for me? Im probably dead or lost. But thats not important. Not to me. You see I have a secret that no one knows about, something that will surely damm me for all of my years to come. Yet I feel the need to get this off my chest by writting the account in this book. I will let you decide whether or not I should be forgiven. Twelve years ago to the day I wondered the outskirts of Nerima as I tried to find my way to Nerima, and from there to the Dojo where I met my lovely wife. For a year and a half I have been wanting to tell her of my love, but everytime I got the chance my brain locked up, every speech I had rehearsed to declare my love forgotten as I gazed into her beautiful eyes. But then her fiance called me pigboy. I wont explain why that comment made me mad with rage, suffice it to say that an incident happened some time ago thats effects my ability to socialize with other people. Or at least it did until I found a cure. I managed to stop myself from going into a blind rage as Ranma, the fiance of the woman I loved, taunted me and insulted me. Luckily Akane hit him over the head with her mallet before I could lose what little control over the temper I have. Your probably grinning right now, wondering how bad it could get when I lose my temper, believe me, if you ever see me lose my temper then just run as far as you can. Whenever I come out of my usual fits of rage I find out that Ive been destroying whole buildings, trees, cars and anything else that got in my way. Ive almost harmed elderly people while I was running after or from Ranma. But I degress. After laughing at Ranma for a few moments he splashed me with some water from a fauntain. I just grinned at him as he stared at me with wide eyes, Akane had aready left, though I cant remember why. I told him that I had found a casket of Nanichuan in some cave on one of the smaller islands. Immediately he was upon me. Pleading for the location of the casket, I felt a slight pain of conscience as I considered telling him the truth. But that only lasted for a few seconds as the rest of my mind quickly filled with images of the humiliaion that Ranma had put me through to keep me away from Akane. That night we set out for the island without telling anyone else, frankly Im surprised no one else found out. Ranma had to lead the way though as I have a bad sense of direction that has on more then one occasion gotten me into some deep trouble. So there I was, swimming behind my most hated enemy as we made our way to the island, occasionally every now and again I would feel a slight stingin sensation on my arms or face that might have been from passing jellyfish. High above in the night sky one could see almost all of the constellations along with a thin line of stars that made up the Milky Way galaxy, an impressive sight if you have the mindset to enjoy it. Before long, probably around midnight since we started out at 9pm, we came to the island both soaking wet though with my added clothing the cold air coming from the ocean didnt bother me. I looked to my left to see Ranma-chan, who is now a girl thanks to the cold ocean water, doing her best to wring out her clothing. I should take this moment to tell you that Ranma is under a magical curse inflicted upon him by a place called Jusenkyo. This curse changes his form from a man to a red haired preadolescent girl that would turn any mans head with those deep blue eyes of hers. This is a sore point with me since Ranma has used his cursed form to play tricks on me numerous times without thinking about my own feelings. This served to reinforce my resolve. The island itself may have been a site for weapons testing, what with all of the small and large craters that still adorned the beach. A little ways inland we encountered the small jungle this island boasted, making our way through I made sure that Ranma lead the way, I also didnt mention the path I made through the jungle or the fact that these plants each boasted a bit of poison strong enough to effect me. I spent three weeks of pure hell as I chopped a path through the lush jungle, at times my imagination got the best of me as I began to hallucinate. I stopped daydreaming however as I listened to Ranma cuss and swear as the myriad thorns and branches pricked her skin and tore at her clothing. One point I feel I should make is that Ranma's magical is activated when cold water hits him. This is important because we were both still soaked with water, for me this wasnt a problem but for Ranma-*chan* this little trip became a bit hazardous as his female form doesnt have a high tolerance for cold weather. Soon enough Ranma began to sneeze, though Im not sure whether it was a real cold or some sort of reaction fom the poisons of this jungle. Whichever the case she started to get sick, fortunately for me we were almost to the cave entrance. I hurrid Ranma-chan along by taunting her and mocking her stamina. In no time at all we were at the cave. I smiled widely at both the cave and at Ranma-chans terrible appearance. I think the cave itself was used by the Japanese military as there were multiple branches that lead away from the main cavern to other rooms and corridors that looked to have been cut into the rock. I picked up a piece of rope I had left to mark the spot. Hesitantly Ranma followed after me as I followed the rope deeper into the bowls of the cave. I dont think he trusted me, but if that were so why didnt he ask why I hadnt brought him a small container of nanichuan? Its a logical enough question when you can calmly think it through, so maybe he did trust me but not my sense of direction. Still this person behind me has humiliated me time and again for laughs, never thinking of my felings or how hurt I was when I found that empty lot only to see that Ranma had already left. And still he trusted me not to harm him. I mean while in female form I couldve easily overpowered Ranma-chan and raped her on the spot before killing her. Such an act wouldve been quite easy for me, but no matter what Ranma wears as a girl Ill always consider him a man. Still as we went further into the cave the floor began to gently slope until we encountered the broad steps that had been cut into the rock. Ranma-chan had to lean against me for support as the dank atmosphere and her own wet clothing caused her sickness to get worse. For minutes at a time as we walked further down I heard her mumble something, but no matter how hard I tried to listen I couldnt mak it out. Doesnt matter now as it didnt matter then. I stopped at the end of the stairway, by now Ranma-chan was starting to cough up flem. My eyes though were on the chains that attired the recessed walls of the bottom chamber. One could only imagine what went on here so many years ago. My train of thought was derailed as Ranma-chan asked, between coughs, where the casket was. I pointed to my side at the wall, Ranma looked uncertainly at me before proceding to that spot to search for the casket. I grabbed some of the chains and began to tie them around her small ankles, thats when Ranma startled me as she began to cry. Never in my life had I actually seen Ranma cry. His father brought him up to be a 'Man Among Men' and to that extent made sure that Ranma never cried, though as to how he made that happen to a small child at such an age I couldnt begin to imagine. Yet here she, or he, cried her eyes out as I tied more lengths of chain around her arms and then her legs, making sure to test the anchors in the walls before proceding. Her crying gave way to a fit of coughing as I finished tying her up, then I went over to the other side of the room for the bricks. Why there was a load of bricks down there I dont know, perhaps the people who used it before planned to add support colums as I had noticed several large cracks in the cieling. In short I lay a wall of bricks around my most hated rival as she begged to be released and to know why I did this to her. I didnt tell her though, I could never explain my pain in words that she could understand, I thought it would be better if she experienced my reasons. I lay the last brick in the hole I made to make sure that she wasnt trying to free herself, ignoring her screams for help. She didnt die immediately though, oh no that wouldve been too easy, the air spaces I had left would allow her fresh oxygen as I wanted her to suffer and to cry until there were salt tracks leading down her face from her tear ducts. I could still hear her screams as I walked out of the cave. As I cleared the cave intrance and saw the moon I thought that until tonight I had never seen anything so beautiful before. I left the island that night feeling like I had lost an immeasurable weight from my shoulders, fully knowing that I would never see Ranma in either form again. Some weeks later I began to comfort Akane over her loss, eventually we went from being friends to dating to lovers in several months. The other wemon that had been chasing Ranma left a month after I returned. Kodachi went searching for Ranma one day and never came back. Ukyou packed up her okinomiaki shop and left town, Ive heard that shes doing quite well in Kobe. The Amazons went back to china, though I wonder if Cologne ever caught on to me, sometimes she just stared at me for no reason that I could discern. Everyones happy though in their own way, especially those living in Nerima. Since Ranma disappeared there hasnt been a single incident involving insanely powerful martial artist or princess, I guess he was a magnet for such events. As for me I married Akane and am now the proud father of triplets. Im never gonna regret what I did to Ranma that night for in my opinion I did all of them a great favor getting rid of the freak. Sometimes I feel a momenterry twinge of conscience when I see my wife staring out of the veranda with sad eyes and I can tell at that moment that she is still thinking of Ranma after all this time. Maybe in her own way she did love him but with everything that went on around them she never got the chance to tell him. All I can do is frown at her and wonder how she could love such a freak of chance and nature, then I start to wonder if she really loves me or if she just married me to get the dojo that both she and I now use to teach our respective fighting arts to others. But then she turns to me and smiles and I know at that moment that she really loves me. What's that? Is he still there? I really dont know since I could never find my way back, and I am very hesitant to try and get help from anyone. Of course its been twelve years since that night so Ranma is either dead or maybe he managed to escape, but in my imagination I like to think that he, or she, somehow lived and is now at this very moment screaming for help. At any rate if Ranma survived and managed to get free he would've come after me But you want to know the most ironic part of the story? There was a small quantity of Nanichuan water on the island, unfortunately there was only enough for me. Hehehe Your probably also wondering where I got such a evil idea. Well while I was in america I read this story called 'The Casket of Amontillado' and if I got the name right then you may have read it as well. I liked the ending, with the man that everybody liked dying in a wine cellar while the man who wasnt really liked lived to a ripe old age. I dont really care if the story's real or fiction for it certainly helped me. --------------------------------------- Authors notes: What can I say except the idea made me do it. I dont intend to continue this story. At present KWOKINATOR has created his 'A Broken Casket' story as a continuation of this one. Which makes this story a prologue. Just not that bloody. The address below is for the Ranma Fanfic Forum. An unusual place to be sure, just remember to bring a level 4 biohazard suite. Ya never know what your going to find:) http://www.delphi.com/ranma_fanfics/start/ C+C is welcome along with comments, encrypted or not. Ja Ne.