Wheel of Time has fallen in a Ditch A/N Ranma in my story married Akane, got a divorce and dated Ukyo. He died say around the age of... well I haven't decided yet. If anyone has some ideas about what happened to the rest of the Ranma ½ cast please tell me!

Also, I have little to no knowledge of what you call the stuff on a ship. Bear with me as this is the only chapter that will take place on boat.

'In Bold' mind speech

CHAPTER 14: Ruby, meet Ranma.

Ruby ran. She was running as fast as she could without thought. It had to be a dream, but fear couldn't be in a dream as it was here. She couldn't even remember what she was running from, it was dangerous to think. Thinking slowed her down, and then what she was running from would catch up.

She skidded along the pavement. It was a hard shiny rock. Ruby felt her feet go over an edge. Her legs went over, then her stomach. She dug her fingers into the stone and felt pain. Her fingertips had to be crushed, but she didn't go over.

Fire shot up her arms as she pulled herself up back onto the ledge. "I almost went over!" She hugged herself and stood. Ruby looked at her hands, they were crumpled and bloody. She saw the blood drip onto the stone.

She kept going. To stay put would be to die. She held her hands close and hobbled up some steps. When she got to the top she saw something. Ruby sucked on her fingers, and scanned for the movement.

It was a man striding through the maze. She felt something squeeze her chest. She knew the man, the one she was running from. He wanted to use her. "Can't! Won't! He won't use me!" She thought and rushed back down the stairs before he saw her.

She turned down a corner along a wall of thorn bushes. The redheaded girl looked at the bushes, they were pretty, in a dead sort of way. She rushed along it looking for a way through. Her eyes wandered to the new pavement she walked along, it was white stones. She kicked up one of the rocks and watched it role out. It turned up to revel staring eye sockets.

Startled, she tripped and fell back. Ruby cried out as fresh pain washed her hands. She had instantly used her hands to catch her fall. It was just evil; she wanted to go home, to be with her friends, to milk a cow, anything but here. She looked forward and saw a hand.

Ruby looked at the offered hand and saw the arm attached to it. She followed that to the whole body of a man who looked to be in his thirties. He had muscles that were half-hidden by the clothing he wore. His long black hair was braided down his back in a tight pigtail, and he had bright blue eyes. He wore a red shirt with matching black pants.

Her jaw dropped slightly as she took the hand. The man had an aura of amusement but caution. He also radiated trust.

"What happened to you?" He said jokingly as he inspected her hands. "Ouch. That has to hurt, don't worry, we'll get you fixed up." He grasped her hands and glowed a soft blue. Ruby felt her fingers resetting themselves and healing. She stared at the man.

"How? Who are you? How did you do that?" She asked, but her feet itched to be moving. HE could appear at any moment.

"Names Saotome Ranma. Just used some Chi." They walked together along the thorn bushes, while Ranma asked where she planed on going and why she was here.

"I, don't know where I am, but we have to keep going. That man, if he comes... he'll use us! He'll do something bad!" She flexed her healed appendages and turned her head.

Ranma got a dark look on his face. The martial artist mumbled to himself and walked protectively next to his new friend. He felt like he had just woke up, refreshed. He would stick with this girl until this manipulator had been dealt with. Beside, this place was by far more interesting than that white place he had been.

They came to a break in the bushes when they ran face to face with the man. His eyes burned and he smiled. "Ba'alzamon!" Ruby backed up taking Ranma with her.

Ba'alzamon moved forward. "How long do you think you can evade me girl? How do you think you can avoid your fate? You are mine!" He reached out to her but found a body in the way.

"You won't touch her." Ranma snarled, hands cupped. Ruby felt what he was doing, but Ba'alzamon did not. She adopted the same stance, realizing it was not so different than what she had done before. Information blossomed in her mind about what it was she was doing. Her eyes glowed a mix of green and blue, conflicting emotions. She felt this well of power in her. It was much like when she had first done it; she had forgotten the feeling. Slowly, Ruby dipped into it, she could almost see more power flowing to replace it as soon as she took some out.

Ranma felt Ruby copying him. He smirked, she had potential. His opponent was looking down, an untroubled expression on his face. Ranma opened up to the girl behind him, nudging her mind to the faster way to gather chi.

Ruby closed her eyes. She thought about it. Quickly, bluish green chi gathered in her palms in a ball. In her minds eyes she saw Ba'alzamon, he was smirking, and coming closer. He threatened to put out her ball. "NO! I can do this! I am not alone! I HAVE to do this!" Pictures of her friends flew into her head, Mat, Perrin, and others. He father stuck out and she saw him at Ba' alzamons mercy.

The two were pulled into each other, their chi attracting. Dual voices rung out. "MOKO TAKABISHA!" Two nimbi of blue, green, and red energy shot out. They circled each other as they flew toward their target. Ba'alzamon was hit in both the back and front with the blasts. He had a surprised look on his face as the world around them shattered like glass.

Ruby blinked her eyes. She felt as if she was floating. When she peeked them open she saw a smiling face. "Where are we?"

Ranma turned to her. "The dreamscape, I think. It was nice meeting you Ruby." He disintegrated into the air. Ruby rushed forward, "Wait! I need you to tell me..." She trailed off into a whisper.

She bolted up; the sheet fell from her shoulders. "Ranma..." she whispered into the night. Ruby felt that Ba'alzamon would not be bothering her for a while. She looked down to the bed sheets and gasped; they were covered in dry blood.

Later

Ruby stretched on the deck. She was helping Paul gather the ropes. As it became obvious in the few days they were on the boat, Ruby was a curious individual. She had her shoes off and helped out around the boat. "Girl, can you get down ta' Kon and tell him will be need'n about 75 more feet of rope." Paul said has he rolled the ropes up.

"Yes Sir!" She spun around and rushed to the other end of the Spray easily dodging bodies in the way. She ducked around a mast and turned to her quarry. "Scuse me Kon! Paul says you need to put 75 more feet of rope on the list of stuff to get." Once again she spun, this time searching for Mat. He had been rather...different lately.

Ruby looked at him and saw he was rubbing something while looking at the curved blade and axe tied to the mast. "The dagger from Shadar Logoth!"

"Morning Mat! What are you doing" She smiled and he looked up.

"It's none of your business." He said darkly. Then changed the subject. "We can't trust them. Can't trust any of them. There's going to be a mutiny"

"Don't be silly Mat. I've talked to them and a mutiny is the last thing on any of their minds."

"That's what hey want you to think. They just want to get our guard down, then they'll dump us over board or kill us in our sleep."

Ruby cocked her head. "Don't say something like that. Thom says Master Domon is a good man and I trust his judgment. They only one we need to worry about is Gelb."

Mat laughed. "You don't see it do you Ruby? Pretty Ruby...We are the only ones left from Two Rivers. We can't afford to trust anyone else."

Ruby stared at Mat. What was he thinking? That thing was doing something to him! "Of course we can trust people. What is that dagger doing to you?"

Mat went ridged and turned to her. He looked pleadingly at her. "You can't tell anyone else about it! Someone might try to take it! Promise me you won't tell know one!" Mat had gotten up and was practically breathing on her.

She slapped him. One good solid slap across the face. "I hope that knocked some sense in to you." She turned taking with her all feminine anger.

One of the sailors laughed. "Did you say the wrong thing boy? Your girl is in a right fury!" Mat scowled and rubbed his cheek.

Ruby threw herself on the bed. "That wool-head! Can't he see beyond his fear!" She punched the thin pillow and growled. Growling was amazingly therapeutic.

'It's the dagger.'

Ruby spun. "Who said that!" She scanned the room, but the door was still closed. "Must have been my imagination..." she shrugged and sat down.

'No, it has to be the dagger. I can feel something bad coming off of it. Kind of like your belt but different.'

"Light! I'm hearing voices in my head!" Ruby moaned. She rolled around on the bed and whined. First the trollocs and fades, now voices, the creator had a weird sense of humor.

"It's the dagger. The dagger. Listen to me, it's the dagger..." the voice faded off and Ruby looked up. 'Wait... that sounded like Ranma!' "Ranma come back!" She listened but didn't here anything else. "Oh well." She went topside to watch Mat's juggling lessons.

Time passing

They were due to arrive at Whitebridge the next day. Ruby napped in her bunk dreaming. She was in a forest. Birds she didn't recognize called to one another.

"Hi Ruby, fancy seeing you here." Said a male voice.

"Hi Ranma. Was that you earlier today? I think I'm going crazy, is it normal to hear people in your head?"

He sat down on a rock and looked up at the sky. "It depends on your view of crazy. In the mad person's eyes you could be the crazy one. And yes, that was me. How I got in your head I have no clue."

She looked around for a place to sit, and found none. Ranma waved his hand and a small boulder appeared. "How did you that?" She sat.

"You ask a lot of questions. I told you before. This is the dreamscape, not to confused with the world of dreams, that place with the really long name."

Ruby nodded sagely, the world of dreams did have a long name. (A/N I can't remember the spelling of it so if someone could tell me it would be much appreciated)

"What was it you were saying about the dagger?"

"Oh! That! It is doing something to your friend...he feels familiar too... but that's not the point. That belt you have," He pointed at the gold and jeweled belt at her waist. "It has this, hunger, to it. As if wants something, but it just sits there. You did something to it, tainted the evil in it I 'spose. Remember in that other place where it was really hot?" She nodded once. "I could feel your belt working against the evil there trying to protect you."

"But Mat's is not helping him! Light! It's trying to kill him."

He rubbed his forehead and groaned. "I don't know OKAY. Think, did you ever do anything to it?"

Ruby decided to lie on her back. She thought about. Mordeth gave it to her, but she recoiled from it. Then...

"Of course! Now I remember! I made it mine using Chi! My chi washed over it after I took it." She felt smug, for a moment. "But how does that help Mat? He can't use chi." Ranma looked at her, then at the clock that appeared in the air.

"Time for you to wake up. Try talking to him, link with him, I think he has more chi than you know. Do you want me to train you? I saw how you were against that evil guy."

Ruby was about to answer when her eyes peeked open to see Mat standing over her.

"Wake up Ruby! You have to see these statues! They're HUGE!" He grabbed his friend's hand and pulled her up to the deck. Ruby smiled as she looked at the large statues then back to Mat. His eyes looked darker than normal, but that was it. Today he must be winning against the dagger, he was the normal Mat.

She thought about what Ranma had said. She would need to talk to Mat soon.

END