Author's notes below.
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine, and are used explicitly without
permission to do so. No money was made in the production of this work of
fiction, and neither is the production of said fiction intended to do
so. I only ask to barrow the characters, and show the world that which
I, myself, has seen.
* * *
Ludicrous Configurations! Productions
Presents a work of fan-fiction
Written by JJ Corley
--------------
Sometimes, things happen. Sometimes, things don't.
And sometimes, things don't happen as they should.
--------------
Nerima Ward, Tokyo, Japan.
She had awoken early, as she always did, watching her dreams
fade, and with them left also the vivid passion that filled her mind as
she dreamt. Of him.
The psychologists had said it was foolish. Her sisters...
Well, one regarded her as a complete nutcase for living a 'celibate'
life, while the other respected her and the honor which she upheld for
their Clan.
For her... The Art was all. Honor was all. He was all.
Spinster, some called her. That she chose to remain unwed
far past the age which her county regarded as proper, that she did not
uphold the belief that women should marry young, be the support for
their man and cleaner of his house for all of their life and dare not
aspire to anything more... Her attitude gained her nothing. The Elderly
thought her a menace, while the young thought her to be a symbol for
women's rights. In truth, she was neither, only going through the
motions of living, all the while waiting for the one to whom she had
been promised. And he had not yet come.
Her thoughts reflected this as she prayed in the family
Dojo, bowed before the shrine, which represented her mother and father.
And she prayed to them, every morning, always for the same thing. `Give
me the strength to carry on; your school, your promise, your future,
your dreams. Please, send him today. Please, let the day of Saotome-san's
arrival be today.`
And, as always, she received no answer, mortal or divine.
Simply the serene silence that prevailed throughout the Tendou Dojo when
no classes were present. When it was she, and she alone, left to the
motions of living once again.
Tightening the red belt which hung at the waist of her gi,
Akane Tendou began the first Kata of the Master's Uncial and started
what she believed would be another long, uneventful day.
She was wrong.
--------------
Nerima Ward, Tokyo, Japan.
The place of his birth. A place he had not seen since a very
young age, and one that seemed more than a lifetime ago. Even after
twenty-one years on the road, the tall buildings mixed with rural suburb
felt familiar; but was a far cry from the giant trees he had seen, and
the bare wilderness that was Mainland China.
His Elders had called him foolish. His 'sisters' had scoffed
at him, treating him as if his honor had no meaning to them. All but
one. And she refrained from speaking to him at all, though he could see
the acceptance in her eyes.
For him... Honor was all. The Art was all. And to do that
which he had promised to do... That was all there was to it.
Exiled, for a period of one year, said the Tribal Elders. As
punishment for being an 'upstart male'. Even with his skills, and his
condition, they afforded him no respect. The Elders believed him to be a
menace, the young men looked up to him as if he were a god. He wanted
neither the attention, nor the hostility, and had only remained for the
training. He was sad to leave, but glad to go. They were a strong and
prideful people, as was he -but he was not a docile male servant.
He reflected on this, and more as he searched for the reason
he had left his home in the first place. A promise he made to his
father, the command spoken with the man's dying breath, mixed with a
message of love to his mother, whom he hoped was still alive but feared
that she, too, was gone.
And he found himself there, standing with the page from the
telephone directory in one hand, the fingers of the other tracing the
worn Kanji on the wooden sign next to the main gate, proclaiming the
house as home to the Tendou school of Anything Goes Martial Arts. He
moved it to the side slightly, and it pivoted freely on the small metal
peg that held it to the wall. The segment of wall underneath was less
weathered than the wall surrounding it. Interest raised, the young man
pulled on the sign gingerly, it coming free with surprising ease, having
been designed to do so.
With the sign in his grasp, Ranma Saotome entered the main
gate, initiating a series of events that would change his life in ways
he would have never imagined.
--------------
I started the original version of this particular piece in a
bout of deep depression, and while working in a job I both hated and was
not paid to do. It was the result of my feelings at the time. Now,
almost two years later, I still firmly believe this story needs to be
told, but not in the way I had begun to tell it. This is a teaser for
the full re-write of the never completed 1st chapter of For Honor and
Love, and the full version may be available within a month, or a few
weeks from now, depending on various factors. One of which is feedback.
If you do not feel like Criticizing or Commenting on this small
portion of the story, then I ask you not to. But if you would like to
say something, I would like you all to know that not only are comments
for this piece welcomed and encouraged, but also necessary to keep it
alive. This is an alternate event that I have seen few write, and though
I am determined to write it, I am unsure as to how I am telling the
story. No longer are anger and resentment fueling this work, and without
that pressure and need for release, I remain questionable on the
direction on which the re-write is heading. Any comments at all would be
helpful, and will speed up production.
Thank you for reading.
-JJ Corley
.---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
| Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
| Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'