Jushi:  It has come to my knowledge that somebody has already made a fic called
        "Slayers 1/2" and even posted it to the RAAC. FYI: this fic has
absolutely 
        nothing to do with it, and is much better, more well-wri...

<WHACK!!!!!>

<Lina gives the 50-ton mallet back to Kaori who immediately starts chasing
Ryo Saeba (who had just noticed Naga) with it.>

Lina:(clears her throat) Sorry about that, but Jushi is a little upset since
        somebody else had used a very similiar name for a quite similiar fic
        already. Do not believe what he said about his fic being much better.
        Read them both and make up your own mind afterwards. 'Slayers 1/2' can 
        be found in the RAAC archive (in the miscallenous directory) and here's
        Slayers Half.

<Lina notices Kasumi bringing out dinner.>

Lina:Zel, you continue. I just remembered I had to go somewhere...

<Lina runs off screen, a dust cloud forms behind her.  Zelgadis snatches the
microphone 
Lina dropped before it falls to the ground.>

Zelgadis:Now, becouse of this 'Slayers 1/2' Jushi is currently (Zel glances
down 
        at the unconscious Jushi) well, after he has completed his nap anyway, 
        searching for a new name for his fic. He has some ideas but decided to 
        post these chapters still under the name 'Slayers Half.' The point
is that you 
        shouldn't be surprised if the name of this series suddenly changes.
Now, on 
        with the show...

Jushi:(picking himself up from the floor.) Right. And now, when I still
remember it, 
        I want to thank Barry Cadwgan and Scott Schimmel for their help. Oh,
and this is
        a repost. Chapter 2 is new. Oww.. my head...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----

SLAYERS HALF	

Chapter 1:Confused? Lina's unusual rebirth!

Written by:Jussi Nikander

Ranma 1/2 is a copyright by Rumiko Takahashi.
Slayers is copyright by ???
Not used under authorisation, but since I don't get any money from
this, don't sue me, okay?

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

Valley of Jusenkyou...

Ranma stared at the panda which had been his father just a few
seconds ago.  The panda attacked him, but Ranma didn't even think
about defending himself before he was falling to a spring.
"Oh, no, Mr Customer.  You fall into the spring of the drowned girl!  A
very tragic story of a girl who drowned there 1000 years ago!" the
Chinese guide shouted.

As Ranma was plunged into the spring, he felt his body change.  Then
he hit his head on a rock, and didn't feel anything any more.  Ranma
lost his consciousness, and at the same time, something else stirred
inside him.  Something that had slept in that spring for a thousand
years was now coming around, as it had found a new host for itself.

Having given his son what he deserved, Genma jumped down and
prepared to gloat at Ranma for his sloppiness.  He was quite surprised
at the growls that left his mouth.  He was also quite surprised to see
his son floating face-down in a spring, his pigtail orange.

Slowly the something was awakening in Ranma's mind.  Bit by bit the
newly reawakened consciousness started taking in its surroundings.  It
was in water. Face down.  Therefore it couldn't breathe.  Something
should be done.

When Ranma righted himself, Genma moved to a stage beyond
surprised.  Ranma's eyes were red, and he sprouted a pair of small
breasts.  Genma was a panda and his son was now a girl.  Maybe he
should have listened to the guide.

The consciousness which had taken over Ranma's body looked
around.  The valley was much as she remembered it to be.  Lots of
pools with bamboo poles sticking from them.  But the people she
expected to see weren't there.  Instead of Zel, Gourry, and the others,
she saw a panda and an old man.  What the hell had happened?
Where was everybody?...  And why there was some weird pressure
inside her skull, like somebody else was there too?  Lina Inverse was
thoroughly confused.

"Uhh...What happened? Who are you?"

The Guide was now worried.  He had never before heard of somebody
losing his memory when he was cursed.
"Ya! Mr. Customer fall into the spring of the drowned girl!  A very
tragic story of a girl who drowned  there 1000 years ago!"  Maybe
changing him back would restore his memory.  "Mr. Customers wait
here, I bring you cure that will change you back!"  The guide started
running back to his hut, to get some hot water.

_Mister_ Customer?  Mister?  Lina knew that she wasn't as well-
developed as, for example, Naga, but she definitely wasn't any man.
"Hey! Get back here! Who are you calling a mister!?  Can't you see
that I'm a girl!" she shouted after the Guide.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Customer wait.  I change Mr. customer back!  Just
wait!" The Guide shouted back as he disappeared behind some near-
by bushes.  Lina started after him, in order to give this obviously near-
sighted idiot a piece of her mind.  Unfortunately for her, she was lifted
off the ground by a big, hairy paw.

Genma grew more and more concerned as he listened to what his son
said to the Chinese man.  Since he was still himself inside, despite
having a panda's body, something worse must have happened to
Ranma, since he apparently thought he was a girl now.  As Ranma
started to follow the Guide, Genma grabbed him.  This was no time to
lose track of Ranma.  God knows what the boy...err.. girl would do in
his current state of mind.  He swung Ranma over his shoulder and
held him in place.

"Hey! Let me go you furball! What's do you think you're doing!"  Lina
wasn't amused by what the panda had done.  For a while she tried to
struggle out of the panda's grasp, but she wasn't strong enough to
escape.  Then she started thinking and immediately groaned at her
own stupidity.  After all, what's good does it do to be a magician if you
don't use your skills?  Since she was hanging on the panda's
shoulder, she had could see that panda's back, including its tail.  Lina
got a wicked smile on her face as she started concentrating on the
spell.

"Ignite fire," Lina whispered and the panda's tail started smoking.  She
frowned since it should have burst aflame.  She must be weaker than
she thought.  Lina repeated the spell, and flames started licking the
panda's backside.

Genma was patiently waiting for the guide to come back.  After all,
wasn't patience one of the greatest virtues of a martial artist?  Still, he
was getting a little hungry.  Maybe it had something to do  with that
smoke he smelled which reminded him of the cooking pits he had
seen in the last village.  Curious, Genma glanced around, trying to find
out where the smoke came from.  He then looked behind him, only to
see his tail aflame.  At the same moment the pain registered, and he
dropped Ranma and started to run around, frantically trying to
extinguish the flames.

Lina chuckled to herself when the panda dropped her to try to put out
its tail.  Maybe the animal would learn better than to mess with a
master sorceress.  When she looked around for any sign of the old
man, Lina briefly wondered if the panda was some kind of animal-man,
like that fish Zelgadis had used to torture her before he had switched
sides.

There was no sign of the Guide, but Lina thought she knew where he
had disappeared to.  She briefly considered casting a Ray Wing in
order to look around, but since she hadn't been able to pull of a
decent Ignite Fire, it probably would have been just a waste of energy.
Lina ran to where she had seen the man disappear.  She would just
have to find him the old-fashioned way.

Genma was able to put off the fire on his tail just as Ranma
disappeared to where the Guide had gone.  He briefly wondered how
his son had been able to set his tail on fire, but that would have to
wait. This was no time to lose Ranma.

				* * *

Lina was a good tracker so she had no difficulty in following the
Chinese man's trail.  After a few minutes of running she came to an
old hut, where generous amounts of smoke poured out of the chimney.
She ran to the door and opened it to see the Guide pouring hot water
into a tea kettle.  The man turned to look at her as she opened the
door.

"Ah, Mr. Customer.  I have hot water here, see?  I turn you back now,
yes." The Guide said.

"Now, just wait a minute old man.  Can't you see that I'm a girl?" Lina
shouted at him as she walked to the Guide.  She maybe wasn't in the
best condition for spellcasting, but she would make the man pay.  It
was her pride that was in line here.

Lina stalked towards the guide, only to have generous amounts of hot
water poured on her.  Suddenly it seemed to her as if the Guide has
suddenly shrunk... or she had grown.  There was this odd feeling too,
like she had lost something on her chest, and gained something
between her legs.  She glanced down, and confirmed that she was
now a he.  Lina let out a surprisingly feminine shriek and fainted.

Sometime later, Ranma regained consciousness.  What had
happened?  He remembered that he had hit his father to a pond.
Then what? Something about a...  panda?  Ranma opened his eyes to
see his father and the Guide looking down at him.

"Uhh... What happened, pop?  Where am I?"

"Ya!  Mr. Customer!  You feel better now, yes?"  The Guide answered
him.

"You no more think you are girl, yes?"  A girl?  What was that man
speaking about?

"A girl?"  Ranma asked, confused.

"You did some quite odd things after you had fallen into that spring,
son."

A spring?  What was old man speaking about?  Then, Ranma
remembered what had happened.  Genma had replaced by a panda
when he had fallen into a spring.  And then the panda had hit him, so
he had fallen into a spring too...

"No, pop, of course I'm no girl!  What are you talking about?"

"Never mind that, son.  We can discuss it later."  His father answered.

"What happened anyway?  You fell into a spring, and then there was
this panda..."

"Mr. Customer fall into Shonmaonichuan!  A very tragic story about a
panda who drowned there 1300 years ago!  Now anyone who falls into
that spring takes the body of a panda!"

Ranma looked at his father.
"That's ridiculous!  Pop's no panda!"

"Ah, but he was Mr Customer!  When somebody falls into a spring of
Jusenkyou, he turns into whatever drowned in that spring.  Then,
when you pour hot water on him, he turns back!  And cold water turns
the curse back on.  I show Mr Customer!" the Guide took a glass of
water and poured it over Genma, who immediately turned into a
panda.  Ranma just stared at his father, wide eyed, while Genma took
out a sign reading "That was unnecessary."

"And me... Did I fall into a spring."

"Oh yes, Mr. Customer did!" The guide nodded enthusiastically. "Mr
Customer fall into the spring of the drowned girl!  A very tragic story of
a girl who drowned there 1000 years ago, yes!"

"Drowned... girl...?" Ranma couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yes! I demonstrate!" Before Ranma could do anything, the Guide had
taken another glass of water and poured it over him.  Now it was his
turn to let out a feminine shriek.

The water didn't just turn Ranma into a female, it also awakened Lina.
As Ranma was shrieking her lungs out the ancient (16-year-old)
sorceress awoke from her forced slumber.  She had had some horrible
nightmare about turning into a boy.  And there was again that pressure
inside her skull, now just much stronger.  Slowly, she tried to sit up,
only realise that she was already sitting.  She also noticed that she
wasn't in charge of her own body, and that she was shrieking.  What
the hell was going on? Had she been possessed?

Lina tried to calm herself.  All right, I don't know where I am, I'm not in
charge of my own body and I have some weird head-ache.  Panicking
won't help at all.  I should be calm and try to solve this problem
reasonably.  At the same time whoever was shrieking with her mouth
calmed down a little, which helped her some.  She tried to get hold of
her body again, but with no success.  Somebody else was controlling
her actions and no matter what she did, she didn't seem to be able to
regain control.  Having found out that she couldn't use her body, she
then tried to find out who was using it.

After a minute Ranma started to calm down.  While he had been
shrieking his lungs out Genma had turned back into human.  That
meant that there at least was a way to turn back.  Oh, yeah; the Guide
had mentioned hot water, Ranma thought.

"What was that about, boy!  Have I brought you up so poorly that you
start panicking from such a little thing!"

"Little thing!?" What was Genma saying?  He had turned into a _girl_.

"Yes! A little thing!  A true martial artist wouldn't let a mere sex change
bother him!"

"I'm a goddamn girl, pop!  You're saying that's something minor!?"

"At least you stay a human, boy!  I turn into a panda! And look at how
well I've taken it!"

"Oh yeah!  Well I got to admit that you look good as a panda!  You've
always been so lazy that it suits you well!"

Lina's head-ache grew worse as whoever was using her body started
arguing with an bald man who was wearing some kind of white
clothes.  As she couldn't control her body, Lina had started poking
around in the mind, hoping that she could somehow get into contact
with, and preferably rid of whoever was controlling her body.  After a
few false starts she felt something, like a light touch.  She tried to
grasp it, and suddenly alien thoughts entered her mind.  Contact.
Lina shouted mentally:<HEY YOU!!!!!!!>

"...and I can't see how you couldn..." Ranma suddenly stopped in mid-
sentence when somebody yelled inside his head.  Loud.  So loud, that
his ears started ringing.  Ranma bent down and covered his ears.
"Wh-who?" he asked out aloud.  Genma looked at his son, surprised
written over his face.

Lina smiled.  It seemed that she had got his attention.
<Me. The girl whose body you've taken over.> She said mentally.

Ranma was confused.  Somebody had spoken to him, but he hadn't
actually head anything.
"W-what?  Who?  What do you mean taken over?" He asked.
His father and the Jusenkyou guide stared at him.  Who was Ranma
speaking to?

The other mind seemed confused, which, in turn, confused Lina.  You
needed an iron will and strong determination to invade the body of a
master sorceress and to take over, but it looked like this other mind
was even more confused than Lina was.  It probably was some cover it
used, trying to make me lower my guard, she finally decided.
<Oh, please.  No need for acting.  And please don't speak out aloud.  I
don't want to them think I'm nuts once I take over again.>

Ranma was more and more confused by the minute.  Somebody was
speaking to him inside his head, claiming that he had somehow taken
over her (yes, whoever it was, it was definitely female) body.
"Acting?  What do you mean nuts?  Or by taking over again?"

Genma was rapidly beginning to believe that Ranma had gone crazy.
Prehaps he shouldn't have been so hard on him.  Well, changing him
back to himself would probably help, he thought and poured hot water
over Ranma's head.

To say that Lina was amazed when her body turned into a male was
an understatement.  She clearly felt the magic surging through her
body as it transformed into something else.  God's!  it hadn't been a
nightmare, she thought.  There seemed to be something more than a
simple possession going on. <WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE
TO MY BODY!!!!??> She screamed to Ranma.

Ranma winced, both at the boiling hot water, and at the sound that
made his head ring.
"Uhh...It's that curse" he said aloud. "The one that Guide spoke
about!"

"Just who are you speaking to, boy?" Genma asked his son.  Ranma
lifted his face to look at him, confusion clearly visible on his features.

"I dunno, pop.  There' s some crazy girl speaking inside my head..."

<Just who is crazy!!> Lina was getting angrier by the minute.  She
hoped that she would have had Zel teach her some shamanistic
magic.  Mind control spells would have been really handy right now.

"What do you mean there's some girl speaking inside your head,
boy?" Genma asked.  It really looked like his son had gone crazy.
What would Nodoka do once she found out?  Huge drops of sweat
appeared in the back of Genma's head.

"Gahh!!" Ranma winced at yet another shout. "Couldn't you calm down
you crazy chick!  I haven't taken over anybody's body.  It's gotta be
that Jusenkyou curse thingie!"

<Crazy chick!?  Why you little...>Wait.  Jusenkyou.  That's where she
had fallen into that pool.  There had been some really odd legends
about the place... <Jusenkyou?>  She inquired mentally.

Ranma rubbed his temples.  He had a pounding head-ache from all
the shouting that had been going on.  The Guide looked at Ranma
from the sidelines, worried.  As far as he knew, nothing like this had
happened before.  Sure, people had gone a little mad from being
cursed, but nobody had claimed that there were voices speaking
inside their head before.

"Yeah, Jusenkyou.  He says" Ranma pointed at the Guide "that I fell
into this pool, and now I have this weird curse that turns me into a girl
when I'm splashed with cold water."

Could the boy be telling the truth, Lina wondered.  Turning into
whatever had drowned into the pool when splashed with cold water
was the curse the pools of Jusenkyou caused.  But that would mean
that... that... that she... had... drowned there?

<Okay.  Calm down, girl.  Think.  Think!  You fell into the pool, then
what?> She 'said' out aloud.  It was like it had happened just a few
minutes ago.  <I fell into the pool and then... I drowned there?  I'm
dead!??>

Ranma blinked.
"She... she said that she had drowned in that pool..."

"Who?"

"That girl..." The Jusenkyou Guide's eyes grew big.  There were some
legends about things like this happening.  The soul of whatever had
drowned in the pool had entered the body, sometimes even taking
over.

"Ya! Mr. Customer!  It be the soul of the girl that drowned in the
spring!  There legends of an animal soul entering the body of the
cursed, but I never heard that a human soul do this."

Ranma began to understand the situation.
"You mean... that I have the soul of whoever drowned that spring
inside me?"

"That is what I said, yes?"

A silence descended in the room as Ranma and Genma tried to
absorb this information.  For a while Ranma was in shock.  Damn it, he
thought, what the hell do I do now?  Why did you hafta drag me here,
pop?  Now wait a minute...  It had been Genma who had insisted on
visiting all these training grounds.  It had been, in fact, Genma who
had got the bright idea of going to train in China.

Ranma grabbed the collar of his father's gi.
"So pop... Why did  you drag me here?" He asked

Genma glared at his son and grabbed Ranma's collar in turn.
"For martial arts of course, son!  When I found this booklet" Genma
took a booklet out of his gi "I just knew we had to visit these ancient
places to further your training."

Ranma swept the booklet away and it landed next to the guide who
picked it up.
"And of course there was no warnings about this place in it, huh?!"

"The legendary training ground of Jusenkyou.  For hundred of years
the most foolish of martial artists come to test their skills at Jusenkyou.
Jusenkyou is a training ground to not to go.  There are many cursed
springs there.  It is very bad if you get cursed since if you are then
splashed with cold water, you turn into what drowned in the pool you
fall."

Ranma and Genma stared at the guide who lifted his gaze from the
booklet and shook his head.
"I try to warn Mr. Customers, but Mr. Customers no listen to poor old
Guide."

Ranma pointed at the booklet. "Did they warn about the springs in the
booklet?" He asked, disbelieving.

"That what I said, yes?"

"Pop..." Ranma turned to look at his father, furious "If you knew those
springs were cursed why the hell did you come here!!" He shouted
"Now I got some crazy chick inside my head..."

Lina had followed Ranma and Genma's fight, and had become quite
bored. What kind of moron was this guy anyway, or his father for that
matter? Then Ranma let out that 'crazy chick' remark.
<HEY!! JUST WHO'S A CRAZY CHICK!!!> She 'shouted' as hard as
she could.

Lina's shout made Ranma's head ring, and his father, seeing that his
son was distracted, used the opportunity to free himself and trip
Ranma.  He then stood over the fallen Ranma in what he thought was
a dramatic pose, tears coming from his eyes.
"Son, your false accusations hurt me to the core." he began "for I did
not know about the dangers of Jusenkyou, since..."

"Mr. Customer no can read Chinese, yes?" The Guide interrupted him.
He had turned the booklet so it was clearly visible that it had been
written in Chinese.

"So..." Ranma said, while he was picking himself off the floor, his right
eyebrow twitching ominously "you found some Chinese booklet you
couldn't understand and dragged me here, without finding out anything
about these places." Ranma surged to his feet and buried his fathers
head to the floor, shouting "OAJI NO BAKAAAAA!!!!"
He then walked out of the hut leaving an unconscious Genma and a
bewildered Guide behind.

				* * *

As Ranma vented his excess rage Lina was laughing by herself.  This
guy seemed to be a bit of a jerk but he sure packed a nice punch.  A
little like Gourry, she mused.  Well, she was stuck with him for now.
She'd better find out just who he was and try to get along. Who knows
how long this would continue?
<Hey you!  Wouldn't it be time for some introductions or something?>
Lina then shouted.

"Huh?" Ranma had been thinking about father's stupidity and shot
sighted he was when Lina interrupted him.

"Whadda you mean?" He said and stopped walking.

<Well, I'd like to know your name, for example.  It'd be nice to know
just who I'm stuck with.>

"Uhh... Umm... I'm Ranma Saotome."

<Hello Ranma, my name is Lina Inverse.>

"Inverse?" Ranma said as he resumed his wanderings.

<What's wrong with my name?>

"Nothing, nothing. It just sounded... odd.  You aren't Chinese, are
you?"

<No.  I come from a country called Zefiel...  It's probably gone now, if it
really has been a thousand years since I died...>

"Yeah... I'm... ummm... Sorry."

<Ranma?>

"Yeah?"

<Could you stop speaking out aloud?  You are making a fool out of
yourself.>

"Huh?  What?  Fool?" Had that chick insulted him again?  And just as
he had began to thought that probably she wasn't such a bad person.
Then what Lina had said sunk in.  She was right, he did look
ridiculous, talking to himself.

"Uhh... How can I do it?"

<Just think what you are trying to say.> Lina had done things like this
before.  It had to be done every time when somebody was
experiencing telepathy for the first time.

"Err..."<Like this?> Ranma asked mentally.

<Yes!> This Ranma seemed to be a quick learner. <That's it.  Now just
remember not to speak out aloud when talking to me.>

<Okay, I'll try to remember.  Now, if you aren't Chinese how did you
end up here anyway?>

Ranma had come to a ledge overlooking the valley.

Lina drew a mental breath.  She hadn't thought about it earlier, but
now she realised that she had lost all that she had knew.  Her home,
her friends, her whole world had been gone for centuries.  If she had
been in control of the body, she would have wept.  Still, Ranma was
somehow able to sense her misery.

"Wha-wha-what are you doin'?  Did I say something?" He asked
frantically, not wanting the girl to blow up again.

<No... It's not you.  I just realised that I have been dead for a thousand
years.  All I've know is gone...>

"Oh, yeah. Heheheheh" Ranma laughed nervously.

<It's not funny!>

"Sorry, sorry" Ranma apologised. "It's just that... I'm sorry." He didn't
know what to say.  Ranma had never been good with people,
especially girls, and how do you cheer up a person who had been
dead for a thousand years?

<It's all right.> Lina finally said. <And remember not to speak out
aloud, okay?>

<Uhh... Okay.>

<Good> Lina nodded mentally. <Want to hear the story of my life?>
Maybe that would take her thoughts away from less happy matters.

<Uhh... sure.>

<Like I said, I was born in a country called Zefiel> She began her story
<in the village of Doue.  I was the third child of Kamri and Ino Inverse
and their first daughter.  My parents told me that as a child I was
always an active and very bright baby.  My life was ordinary until I was
seven years old.  Then, the local wizard...>

<Wizard?  You mean a guy who does magic?>

<Yes.>

Ranma was incredulous <Come on!  No such thing as magic exists!>

<Oh really?> Lina answered in amused tone.

<Ye.... Oh, right.> "Hehehehehe!" Ranma rubbed the back of his head
in a nervous gesture.

<Right.  The local wizard... Well, he wasn't actually local, but lived in a
near-by village that was a little bigger than our own, spotted that I had
a great potential as a magic-user...>

<You're a wizard too?> Ranma interrupted her.

<I like to call myself sorceress.  Now, like I said...>

<Sorry, sorry.  Continue your story please.>

<The wizard saw that I had great potential and asked my parents if he
could take me as an apprentice.  They weren't sure at first, but it was
pretty easy for the wizard, and old fellow named Hebime, to make
mom and dad agree.  You usually don't disagree with a wizard, it's not
good for you.  Now, he took me as an apprentice, and I left Doue with
him. For the next nine years I learned from him. Hebime was a black
magician...>

<Uhh... Isn't black magic evil?>

<Ranma, could you please stop interrupting?> Lina asked.

<Uhh... Sorry...> Ranma apologised, nervously.  If this girl was some
kind of black magician who knew what she could do to him.  This could
mean trouble...

<And no, black magic isn't inherently evil.  It's a form of magic that
draws its strength from strong emotions such as anger and it's mostly
used in battle.  People usually think that black magic is evil, since it's
quite destructive, but you can fight for good too, can't you?>

<Well, I guess hafta agree.  You can use martial arts for evil, but you
can use them just as well for good.>

Lina smiled to herself. <As good an analogy as any, I guess.  As I
said, for the next nine years I studied with Hebime, learning the ways
of magic.  As he mainly used black magic, he taught me it, plus basic
magic...>

<Basic?> Ranma interrupted Lina's story again.

<What is it with this guy?> Lina muttered to herself. <Could you
_please_ stop interrupting?  Basic magic contains all those basic all-
purpose spells like Light or Seek Water.  It is magic that any
spellcaster can learn, no matter whether he or she specialises in
black, white, or, for example, shamanistic magic.>

<Uhh.. White? Shamanistic?>

Lina groaned.  <I can't explain the whole theory of magic to you here.
It took me most of a year to learn it myself.  Could I continue?>

<Umm... Yeah, sure!>

Lina sighed. <Okay.  So, for nine years I learned magic from Hebime.
Then, one day, an evil sorcerer came to that part of Zefiel.  Being the
local wizard, it was Hebime's duty to stop him from terrorising people.
Hebime decided that I was strong and experienced enough to come
with him.  Together we fought against the evil sorcerer... I think his
name was Ron-something-or other...  Can't remember it.  Anyway, it
was a long and hard battle, but finally we were able to kill the evil guy.
Unfortunately Hebime was grievously wounded and I was too
exhausted to heal him, and he died.> Lina stopped for a while to think
about Hebime.  He had had his quirks, but all in all Hebime had been
a nice old man and a good teacher.  She wretched her thoughts back
to present.

<After Hebime's death I decided to go explore the world and learn
more about magic on my own.  Well, it had a little to do with the locals'
attitude towards me after I brought Hebime's body back.  Guess it's
right that people never like the bearer of bad news...
Well, at that point I had just turned 15 and was a good and powerful
sorceress.  I didn't really have that much chances for employment,
though. People tend not to trust magicians as young as I was...>

Lina stopped for a while.  The memories were still fresh.  For her it
had been just two years ago.  She shook herself and continued the
story.
<Since I couldn't get any job as a sorceress, I decided to earn myself
a reputation to help in it and started hunting bandits.  I soon gathered
quite a reputation, and it was a good career financially too.>  Lina
paused again.

<How so?>

<I could 'liberate' the bandits' treasures.  Well, anyway.  After a while I
banded up with another sorcerer called Naga.  She was a few years
older than me and... ahh...  quite healthy...>

<Huh?> Ranma asked in confusion.

<She was bursting off her suit, which hid very little, by the way.  And
she kept on teasing how 'underdeveloped' I was.> Lina answered in
sarcastic tones.  She then took a deep mental breath to calm down.
Naga had been a nuisance sometimes, but all in all, she had been a
good friend.

<Anyway, I travelled with her for some time, but eventually our paths
separated.  I then wandered around by myself for a month or so,
before I met this swordsman named Gourry.  You remind me of him a
little, by the way.>

<Oh.  How?>

<Well, you're a good fighter, right?>

<Yeah.> There was some arrogance in Ranma's tone.

<So was he, and, like you, he wasn't the brightest person on earth.>

<HEY! What's that supposed to mean?>

<Well...> Ranma could easily feel Lina smirking at him.  <You aren't a
scholar by nature, are you?>

<Umm... Eh... No?>

<Right.  And you prefer action over sitting around, right?>

<Well, yeah.>

<He was the same. Now, shut up so I can continue the story. Thank
you.>

<When I met Gourry, I had just raided one bandit group and got
myself a nice little treasure.  We were then swept into a really weird
adventure.  It turned out that one of the items I had liberated was the
legendary Philosopher's Stone, a very powerful magical artefact.  Now
lots of people wanted that stone, so we ended up running and fighting
for our lives for the next month or so.  It all ended when we faced
down the Demon Lord Shabranigdo...>

<Demon Lord?!?!?> There can't be no such thing as demons, Ranma
thought.

<Gahh... Would you stop interrupting?  And yes, a Demon Lord.> Lina
paused for a while to regain her thoughts.

<The Demon Lord Shabranigdo that had been summoned by this guy
called Rezo, the Red Priest.  Finally I was able to destroy the monster
by using the most devastating spell I know, the Giga Slave.  After
Shabranigdo's death I travelled on with Gourry, while Zelgadis, a
shaman we had befriended, went his own way.  Now, we met Zelgadis
again a little later, and following the legend of Jusenkyou, of which Zel
had heard, we came here.>

<Why?>

<What?>

<Why didja come to Jusenkyou?>

<Oh, right.  Zelgadis was a half-golem and hoped to find a way to
become a human again here.  Then, when we had arrived here, the
land gave away under me while I was examining one of the pools, and
I fell in.  The last thing I remember is being pulled down to the bottom
of pool.>

<That's it?>

<Well, mostly, yes.  I did meet this girl named Amelia who was a
sorceress-wanna-be, but she was quite annoying... Now, what about
you?  I've told you my story, but I don't know a thing about you.>

Ranma stretched a little.  He had been sitting there quite long.  Pop
was probably somewhere out there looking for him.
<Well, I'm Ranma Saotome, the only son of Genma Saotome and the
heir to the Saotome school of Anything-goes Martial Arts.  I've been
travelling around with my pop ever since I can remember, and...>

Ranma's story was interrupted by a cry of rage that came behind him.
"Ranma Saotome!  I have found you at last!  Prepare to die!!"

Ranma turned around to see a muscular boy of his age, wearing a
yellow-and-black bandanna, black sleeveless shirt, and rugged pants,
and wielding a red umbrella, staring down at him with murder in his
eyes.
Ranma's confusion was mirrored by Lina as the simultaneously said
"Who are you?"

<Who is this guy?>

end of chapter 1
-----------
Jushi, The resident Martian of cyberspace
Jussi.Nikander@alien.nixu.fi
Nabla is your friend.