Characters of Ranma 1/2 belong solely to Rumiko Takahashi and are not to be
used for profit. All other characters belong to me. You *know* how I'll
feel if you used them for profit.

The Passion of the Rose-Colored Sword
Chapter One

"Ryoga!" How *nice* to see you!"

Ryoga rolled his eyes.  Whenever Ukyo used that tone of voice, she had
something on her mind, and he'd bet all the money he had that that
something was Ranma.

Ukyo threw an arm around his shoulders and confirmed his suspicions.
"Funny you decided to show up here at this very minute.  I was just
thinking of paying a little visit to the Tendo dojo.  Care to join me?"

Ryoga cringed.  "What do I have to do?"

"Nothing, idiot!" Ukyo smacked him lightly-for her, at least-upside the
head.  "Don't you want to spend a quiet morning with the love of your life,
Akane?"

At this, a huge smile spread across Ryoga's face.  Why, to spend an entire
morning with Akane wasn't just perfect--it was bliss!  Her sunny smile, her
beautiful eyes...he could imagine her inviting him inside her house with a
wave of her delicate hand.  Maybe he'll get to sit next to her while she
ate breakfast, and he could tell her all of his travels, and she'll laugh
in delight in that sweet voice of hers, and maybe, just maybe, he'll get up
the nerve to tell her how beautiful she was today, and then she'll blush
and suggest they go for a walk in the park after breakfast, and maybe
she'll even hold his hand...

Ukyo shook her head as Ryoga went off into another happy daydream.  The boy
was *way* too gullible sometimes. Not that he'll ever get the nerve to tell
Akane his feelings about her.  Shame, really.  He and Akane would make a
perfect couple, once he received a backbone, that is.  No matter.  All she
needed him to do was keep Akane out the way while she spent some quality
time with *her* man.  The lost boy was an idiot, but he could be useful.
Sometimes.

Leaving Ryoga to stare vacantly into space, she went behind the counter and
started taking out ingredients to prepare a very special okonomiyaki for
Ranma.  "Hey Konatsu," she yelled. "I'm going to be out for a few hours.  I
know you have to go to the store, so close the restaurant until I get back,
okay?"

"Hai, Ukyo-sama!" replied the boy from the storeroom. "By the way,
Hirotawa-san wanted me to remind you that he would be stopping by at ten
o'clock so he could get you those estimates you wanted."

Ukyo smacked her forehead.  "Oh, shoot! I forgot!"  For the past couple of
weeks, she had ideas of expanding the restaurant, maybe even adding a
pagoda outside, since business was doing so well. Hirotawa Kaju was an
outside vendor she had found in the phone book, but the other night she
gotten into a conversation with one of her customers, who turned out to be
a contractor.  She struck up a deal with him that enable her to get a huge
discount as long as she provided free lunch for his workers.  She had made
the deal, forgetting that Hirotawa was coming the next day to give estimates.

"Drat, I better call him."  Ukyo searched about the counter for his phone
number, but couldn't find it.  <Must've left it upstairs in my room.>
Without sparing a glance at Ryoga, she dashed upstairs.

<And then, we'll name our first child Kyoko, and I'll teach her how to
throw bandannas, or Akane can teach her how to use mallets...how does she
do that kind of thing any--huh?>  Ryoga frowned, feeling decidedly
uncomfortable.  Then he blushed, remembering why he had accidentally
wandered into Ucchans in the first place.  He turned around, but she wasn't
there.  "Hey, where did everyone go?"

"You mean, Ukyo-sama?" Konatsu came into the front, carrying several bags
of flour.  "I believe I heard her go upstairs.  If you excuse me, I
promised Ukyo-sama I take these back to the market.  They're not the kind
of flour she needs."

"Oh, uh, before you go, can you, um, you know, direct me to the, uh--"

Konatsu's features softened as he returned the "Closed" sign on the
restaurant door. "The bathroom's upstairs, third door on the left."

"Thanks!"  Ryoga dropped his pack and charged up the steps.

Ukyo, meanwhile, rifled through the papers on her desk in her bedroom.
"Drat, I knew I brought it up here.  Where could it be?"  The time she took
in looking for that stupid number was chipping away at the time she could
spent with Ranma.  Maybe it was on her dressing table?

"Hey, this isn't the bathroom!"  Ryoga suddenly said.

Ukyo sighed and glared at the lost boy.  "No it isn't, sugar.  Now will you
kindly get out so I can find this phone number?"

Ryoga was about to retort when he did a double take.  He stared at
something behind Ukyo, then made a strange, choked sound. Ukyo blinked.

"What's wrong with you?" Ryoga's mind appeared to be locked up, so she
turned around to see what had short-circuited him and found herself looking
directly into an abyss.

It wasn't an abyss exactly. But then again, it wasn't her dressing table
mirror, which is what it should had been. The oval mirror that once
reflected her room had gone utterly black, a blackness that wasn't
tangible, but seem to draw all color into itself.  It roiled and spun
lazily, like some strange midnight pool.

Ukyo's only intelligent response was a confused, "Wha' th--?"

Her words sparked something bright in the darkness, a twinkling that made
her think of stars.  They swooped and spun gaily, trailing behind bright
streaks of light like minature comets.  It was hypnotizing to watch, almost
beautiful the way they flew and chased each other as if they had no concern
at all, until they suddenly rushed forward and yanked Ukyo off her feet.

It happened so fast, she couldn't cry out.  The lights swirled about her,
their fiery tails encircling her arms, waist, and legs, pulling her,
yanking her into the swirling blackness.  She could only let out a
gasp--which turned into a cry as another force gripped her arm just as she
was passing the rim of the mirror.

"Hang on!"  Ryoga scrambled for an anchor--which was Ukyo's bedpost--as he
tried to pull Ukyo away from the mirror.  The lights paused, then a few
began circling him, the strange force that accompanied them prying almost
playfully at his fingers and tugging at his feet.  He snarled and fought
for a better hold.  

"Hey! Leggo!" Ukyo shouted at the lights.  Between the lights and Ryoga,
she felt she was been torn in half.  She kicked her legs, trying to lodge
off the strange force.  "Ryoga, you idiot, do something!"

"Would you rather me drop you and get Konatsu?" he barked back.  The lights
had succeeded in lifting his feet off the ground  and it was all he could
to keep his hold on the bedpost.  Nevertheless, he tried harder to pull
Ukyo away from the mirror.

Before she could say a nastier reply, the force that tugged them forward
abruptly reversed itself, blowing them back into the room.  Ukyo yelped as
she found herself flying into Ryoga, who was thrown headfirst into the
bedpost.  They collapsed unto the floor in an untidy heap, dazed.  Quick as
a flash, the lights fell upon the senseless duo, lifting them effortlessly
and swiftly through the mirror before either of them could cry out or do
anything.

Sound assailed them, a great roaring like a thousand waterfalls thundering
down.  Ukyo struggled to put her hands to her ears as they tumbled through
the blackness, which failed to mute the brilliance of the lights forcing
them onward.  

Behind her, Ryoga screamed, "I think I'm going to be sick!!!"  It was hard
to tell which way they were going.  It felt like they were lurched in all
directions, and his stomach flipped and flopped with each new jolt.  He
closed his eyes, willing himself not to whimper in fright.  It wasn't working.

"Ukyo..."

Ukyo's head jerked up. <What was that?>

"Come to me...Ukyo..."

Something was out there, in the darkness.  Something wanted her.  Calling
to her over the roaring darkness.  Something...warm?  Comforting?  She
strained to see, but the lights imprisoning them growing brighter.

"Ukyo..." It was said with a sigh, with longing.

She had to shout to hear herself.  "Where are you?!"  She squinted, trying
to see through the darkness.  

"Need..."

Then she caught it: a glimpse of swirling brown hair, a waving hand, red
eyes that flared...

And Ukyo felt a sudden need to be somewhere, a hunger that swept through
her so strongly, it left her panting with want, and she didn't know what
she needed, but she needed it *now* and she had to get to it
before...before...

"No!" she screamed. "Come back!"  She reached into the darkness, willing
herself forward, even faster than the lights.

And the lights suddenly flared too brilliantly, and she screamed as she
felt herself slam through a barrier of some sort.  Pain followed her as she
slipped into a darkness of a different sort.

========================================================================

Machellian smiled.

He allowed the fire to die down in the pan before taking the still hot
coals and place one on each of the sigils he had incribed on the floor
using the ashes from the wards he had burned earlier. A brief word, and the
ashes flared into life, creating an image of a large shimmering oval in the
air before him.

Through this oval, he will see the location of the rose-colored sword.

It took him seven years to master the right spell, the right wards. A lot
had changed during his brief stint of thievery. He had actually begun to
gain respect in the noble circles. Granted, his gain of power had to do
more with the local governments finding themselves plagued with all sorts
of bad luck: crops going bad, cattle and other animals producing less
offspring, the occasional villager disappearing in the middle of the night.
 He, of course, had no hand in it. The Elders should have taken the
increase of monsters appearing in the Lands more seriously, as he told them
that fateful night.  The mages, however, were more interested in
accumulating wealth, not gaining the loyalty of the populace.

Now there was a great rift between the Elders and the Nobles. The Elders,
ignoring the presence of the monsters plaguing the lands, were unprepared
for the sudden increase of violence. Worse yet, the spells they knew were
only enough to protect themselves, not entire villages and towns. And since
it was their childish paranoia to lock all the knowledge capable of
fighting the monsters, as well as all other important tomes of lore and
wisdom, in a cave that opened only once each year, it was only a matter of
time before the hundreds of regular mages, those who weren't powerful
enough to become Elders, became disenchanted with their supposed leaders.
Many of the schools across the Lands disbanded, their scholars going out
into the world to search for knowledge themselves. The Elders had made
themselves fools out of their own hands.

Machellian chuckled at the memory. He had been one of the first to leave
the schools, a long time ago.

Now, look at him. A Noble over a town that was growing daily since many had
learned that his province were safer than most villages, thanks to the
other spells he had accumulated during the years he was on the road. And
with his stockpile of grain, he was able to gain suitable trade with the
rest of the towns around him. The fact that he was a Noble with magic
powers and not cowering in a cave or dusty castle pouring over scrolls
until his eyesight went bad, or troving from one village to another
exhorting large amounts of money just to rid a puny menace, seemed to make
his reputation spread farther than he had dreamed.

And tonight, once he found the location of the rose-colored sword, his
reputation will spread even more. In fact, he'll be known throughout the
entire realm. He would hold the power over the entire Land.

He rubbed his hands, building up warmth between them. The scroll had said
that the spell, when done properly, would give him the exact location of
where the sword was hidden. He didn't know how long he could study the
location before the spell faded, so he had posted guards in front of his
chambers, warning them to let no one in to disrupt his concentration. Even
if he had caught himself on fire and was screaming for assistance, on no
account were they to open the door.  Until the spell finished, there would
be no interruptions.

The heat between his hands grew. Machellian allowed it to build to the
point it was almost unbearable, then thrust his palms out towards the
shimmering oval. "Ishaten votice! SHOW ME THE ROSE-COLORED SWORD!!!"

The oval flashed. Machellian resisted the urge to throw his hands over his
eyes to block out the blinding light. He could feel the magic in his hands
being pulled into the oval, rapidly draining his strength. He gritted his
teeth and squinted. <Just a moment longer...>

Something glinted in the oval, something vague. Tears were streaming down
his eyes as he attempted to peer into the light. Yes, something was
definately there, though it was hard to tell what it was. However, it was
growing more defined, more sharper.

Machellian slightly lowered his hands, frowning. No, it wasn't growing
sharper. It was coming closer. It was coming right towards him at an
extremely fast rate. Almost too fast.

He scrambled back just as the oval flared even brighter, then suddenly
shattered. The power it was drawing backlashed into his hands, and he
screamed in agony as it threw him back against the room. The air was rent
with a room-shaking bang, then settled as the room became still once more,
the only light coming from the coals flickering faintly upon the stone floor.

Machellian groaned and stumbled to his feet. His ears rung, and he was
about to touch them when he hissed. His hands stung, as if he had plunged
them into the fireplace. A quick look confirmed that while they were an
alarming shade of red, they appeared to be whole. He looked across the
room, still dazed by what happened.

The oval was gone, the spell having dissipated. Furniture was overturned,
and papers were still fluttering down, as if a mighty storm had taken place
right in the room. All his careful work was destroyed. He was too shocked
to feel bitterness.

A faint sound caught his ear. He scrambled to the wall and grabbed one of
the torches, wincing as his hands slid around the pointed shaft. It took
him forever to find his flintbox--the pain in his hands were fading, though
he suspected it would be a while before he could move them without feeling
an ache. After several tries, the torch finally flickered with a feeble
light, and carefully he approached where he had cast the spell.

His thoughts froze when he saw two figures lying on the stone floor.

====================================================================

"Ukyo-sama?"

Konatsu frowned. He was laying the new sacks of flour on the counter when
he noticed Hibiki-san's backpack resting on the middle of the floor. He
very well knew of Ryoga's lack of directional sense, but he figured that
even if the boy got lost upstairs, Ukyo would have directed him to the
right place, or kicked him out on some strange whim. 

"Are you here, Ukyo-sama?" Konatsu checked the kitchen and the storeroom,
then went upstairs. He stopped when he reached her bedroom.

Nothing. Everything was in place. The only person he saw was the image of
himself reflected in the oval mirror on Ukyo's dressing table. The bed
appeared to have been pulled a few inches forward, but other than that,
Konatsu sensed nothing else unusual.

He sighed and trudged downstairs. Well, he did recall her saying that she
was going over to the Tendo dojo for breakfast. It was now well past noon.
Perhaps she was preoccupied? Konatsu let a feminine giggle slip out. Ukyo
was always preoccupied whenever it came to Ranma Saotome. It was funny, and
yet it was also sad the way she always hung around him. When would she ever
realize that Saotome would never love her as much as she loved him?

<Probably when I realize that she would never love me as much as I love
her.> Konatsu answered himself ruefully. He shook himself and went to flip
the "Open" sign once more. It wouldn't do for Ukyo-sama to lose business
just for spending her time chasing dreams that would never come true. The
least he could do was insure that she had something to come back to once
she realized that. At least, he would be useful to her in *some* way. All
it took was time, that's all.

He sighed, then buried his feeling deep inside himself as he ushered the
first customers inside the restaurant. "Konban wa! Welcome to Ucchans!"

End of Chapter One
============================================================================
======
Well, as you probably guessed, this will be mainly a Ryoga and Ukyo fic,
though for all you fans of the two, romance will be long in coming. First,
they have to figure out where they are first.

It's interesting how many self-insertion fics there are that have
foreigners being zapped into the Ranmaverse. However, not that many fics
have Ranmaverse characters being zapped into foreign worlds. I had a dream
once about a rose-colored sword, but I had no idea on how to write a story
on it. When I got involved in Ranma 1/2, one day this story came into
place. And I thought, "Cool."

Oh, yes. Don't look for Ranma & Co. to show up anytime soon. While I do
plan on them coming into the story at a certain point, the story will
mainly focus on Ryoga and Ukyo's adventures in the Lands. Why is the
country called the Lands? Well, um, you see, I can't really think of a
decent name to name the country, so I figured the Lands would do well
enough. Hey, I live in the United States, a term just as vague. Sure, it's
America, but who really calls it that anyway?
============================================================================
/===\     LaShawn M. Taylor (tbone@ccm.net)     MSTie#83924
|^ ^|\    (but not for long...)
 \v/\|    "I have to help him. You see, he's my fianc�!" 
    |\    			-Akane, from an Akane to Remember...
    \|    "And there's a hope in my heart, and I believe a day is coming
	   when we'll never be apart.
	   Just to be where you are, and to spend my life with you would 
	   be a perfect start."
				-Phil Keaggy "Spend My Life With You"
T-bone Corporations * In Touch With Yours Truly * Merging soon with Wanak,
Inc.
============================================================================