Disclaimer- Here, Yumiko's mine. But Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi (including Genma, although why anyone would want him...). Sailor Moon, which doesn't actually take an appearance in this prologue, is Naoko Takeuchi's. The story itself is mine, though, and as always I'd appreciate it if people came up with their own rather than stealing it for whatever reason.

Warning- Spoilers. This is a given. Language. I don't really censor myself, I follow my characters. They may swear, they may not, I have no more say in the matter than you do. Also, as a warning, I got a lot of inspiration for this piece from Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy, although it's not a crossover. I tried to mimic the feel and tone of Black Jewels in my own way, so beware. If you don't know what this means... Dark, sensual, violent. Topics that are often considered extremely inappropriate for dinner-table conversation will come up, and people will die. In most uncomfortable ways. If you can't take what you see, stop looking.

(Font specifics: If you've read any of my stuff, you probably know this by know.

"Hi," speech.

/Boo/ mental communication-ie. telepathy.

-This- is an interruption.

And this is either a thought, or signifies that whatever it is is stressed.)

Darklight: The YSDF

By Pale Wolf

Second Prologue

Widowmaker: Coven of the Hourglass

Ten Years Ago

His father was asleep. He'd passed out a while ago, glutted on stolen sake and enough fish to feed a small town for a month (a purpose which it would have served had it not been stolen).

His bags were packed. They were always packed. No point unpacking when you never stayed anywhere for long.

It was time to go. Time to get away from the hitting, the stealing, the starving, the loneliness, the constant hanging threat of another Neko-ken-like moment...

Cutting the litany off while there was still daylight, Ranma uncurled from his normal sleeping position, snatched his pack and levered it up into position on his back, grunting softly at the weight. Stepping softly, he made his way across the bare dirt, sure that his heart was beating loudly enough to wake Genma.

Fortunately, he turned out to be wrong, and made it into the forest they'd camped outside of, stopping a little way in, just under a randomly chosen tree.

Hopping up to the lowest branch, Ranma strained his young muscles to pull himself and his heavy pack up, inching until he could make one final heave up onto the branch, laying bonelessly to recover a bit of energy. Ridiculously harsh training or no, Ranma was still only a child, still got little sleep and less food, he only had so much strength. Maybe if he'd been stronger, he wouldn't have had to leave Mom, he could've had enough to eat more than every blue moon... he could've been safe and warm. Mom was warm...

He hadn't rested long before he forced himself to stand, picked a thick limb on a tree to the front right, gathered himself, and lept. No time for that now. Only time to run.

He only just made it, crouching slightly to balance himself. He permitted himself one gasp for air before scrambling onto another limb, creeping out as far as he dared go, then making the jump to another...

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Something felt... off. Groggy and slow, he brought himself to awareness. It didn't take long to notice-the boy was gone. Genma's face reddened.

Damned boy! Such a nightmare to train and have around. If he hadn't been taking the long view, trying to train the boy right, he'd never have bothered. Where was the damned ungrateful brat?!

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The boy came to a landing from the last tree-jump, dropping the pack and gasping for breath. If he wasn't far enough away by now, he'd never get away.

A shift in the shadows instantly put him on guard.

"Who's there?"

No reply.

"I'm not stupid. I'll count to five, then I'm going in swinging. One." Silence. "Two." Still nothing. "Three."

"I wouldn't suggest it," a soft voice -a teenage girl's voice- interjected. "You might hurt yourself."

Ranma narrowed his eyes. "Then come out!"

"I really don't think that's a good idea."

Gritting his teeth, Ranma barked, "Look, lady, I'm in the wild, middle of the night! Nothing I shouldn't worry about would hide!"

An odd wheezing sound. "All right. But promise you won't panic."

Ranma bowed his head. "I promise."

That odd wheezing sound again. Then underbrush crackled in an oddly fast pattern, as if she were running. A bush was pressed down, allowing him to see a huge shadow step into the clearing: a bit taller than his father, four times that in length, triple that in width. That girl's voice came from it. "I really don't think you want to see me. But, if you insist..." The shadow's receded from the huge form, revealing first eight spiny, hairy, multijointed black legs, then a somewhat narrow multisegmented body raised off the ground. A gigantic spider.

Ranma lost his stance in wonder. "Wow... You're so cool, lady!"

The spider would definitely have blinked if it had eyelids. "You're not scared?"

Ranma did blink, looking up into her many eyes. "Should I be? You're not a c-c-c-thing... and you're nice. Can I pet you?"

It was another 'blink' moment, but after processing the request, she stepped a little closer, each leg moving independently. "Go ahead. What's your name, anyway? I'm Maruyama Yumiko."

Ranma stepped up, running a hand down one of her legs. It was hard and cold, but smooth and comfortable. Strong. Safe. "I'm Saotome Ranma."

"Oooh... That is nice. But Ranma, you're... what? Ten?"

Blushing, Ranma shook his head. "Seven."

Yumiko's body bobbed down momentarily in what looked like a spider's version of a shrug. "Sorry, I suck with ages. Anyway, what're you doing way out here at night?"

Quietly. "Running from Pops."

Yumiko stiffened, shifting protectively.

Ranma didn't notice, laying his head against one of her legs. He wanted to speak, and, given a sympathetic ear, the floodgates were open. "I wanna learn martial arts, but not from him! I don't want him to hit me anymore, I want enough ta eat! I don't wanna keep leavin' my friends... I wanna see my mom!!!" He fell against her, listless, not making a sound, but there was an itch in his eyes that he mercilessly fought off.

Yumiko carefully maneuvered one of her legs to gently stroke Ranma's back. "Shhh. I'll help you find your mom. And I won't let your father hurt you. Is that all right?"

Little Ranma looked up at the spider's inhuman face that, despite its alien appearance, still managed to ooze concern. He nodded solemnly.

"Let's rest, okay? Then we'll go."

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Next: Third Prologue! The end of Ranma's happy time comes, and a mysterious figure gives Genma a dangerous artifact. Who? Why? And what does it do?

Author's Notes (You try coming up with smart-ass comments that fit in all the time.)

E-mail is miraclewolf at

You may note the chapter title. Don't worry, Black Jewel readers, this Coven of the Hourglass shares little more than a name with the Black Jewels Hourglass. If Ranma doesn't seem as superhuman as normal to you... he's seven. I imagine you're wondering why a spider has a Japanese name. Don't worry, you'll see. All my normal statements apply: you see any inconsistency or wierd stuff, don't hesitate to tell me, don't hesitate to give me your impressions so I'll know how successful I am, and I'm always open to suggestions. Doesn't mean I'll follow them: when it comes right down to it, I am the author, but I do promise to listen seriously. And about Ranma's breakdown... did I do alright with it? Any feedback on that would be helpful, I will post up revised chapters. I just feel a little unsure about it. And what did you think about Yumiko? I want to talk, but there doesn't really seem to be much that'll spark any controversy here, so I'll just leave. One last note: I think I finally figured out how to get this text to look properly formatted!