Disclaimer; This fanfiction uses existing ideas, characters and or worlds, but is an independent work of art. I own nothing, hence the reason for publishing my writings here instead of in real books where I could make some money.
The following conversation went by much too fast for Ranma to pay attention … however, he got the gist of things. Gina introduced herself by profession and title, even dropping hints about her award earlier that year.
Onoli and Nali had exchanged looks and agreed to let Gina run the exploration.
Naturally, Ranma and his group had been volunteered to help.
What Gina discovered during the next hour, was nothing short of astonishing.
Firstly, not a single piece of this place would be found anywhere on the periodic table.
Secondly, according to Gina's readings, this place predated the known universe.
She wasn't alone in these discoveries, as Dr Diggers got the same results through his methods. However, he reminded Gina that their main priority would still be to find the power source of Bain, and shut it down to give Julia a fighting chance against G'Nolga.
"I can't help but think that Tirant would never have been able to imprison us here inside this artefact if I hadn't arrived …" sighed Dr Diggers after informing his daughter of his findings. "He drained my power … my mag-"
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," interrupted Ranma. "What's done is done and it can't be changed without drastic consequences to all involved."
"He's right, Dr Diggers," agreed Onoli seriously. "No one was prepared for Bain's powers, least of all me and my team … or the other magic users trapped here."
"Onoli, any word from the others searching the ruins?" asked Dr Diggers, recovering from his bout of guilt. They had business to finish, and it needed to be done as fast as possible.
"Sorry, Doctor," apologised Onoli sadly. "Only your team seems to be making any progress."
The werelion paused for a moment.
"By the way, a- any news?"
"We're close, my friend," Dr Diggers assured him. "Very close … I just hope we can find a way to wrest control of Bain away from Tirant before it is too late …"
Peewee had, as seemed to have become the trend lately, unhappy.
Not only had he and his employees been unable to locate the lost wererat samples, but an ancient Amazon had brought her hunting party into his labs, and made camp there … this, in turn, made working on his projects virtually impossible, because it was too crowded to move properly without getting in someone's way.
Though, even Peewee had to admit that every member of the hunting party, apart from the ancient elder, was very attractive. The skimpy armour and blatant display of sharp weapons oddly added to the attraction, bordering them on semi-erotic …
Ionis had foolishly, in hindsight, engaged in combat with a rather large woman … a giantess if anything, and he had won. Granted, it had been a lucky shot to drop his large tome on the toes of the giantess when she had picked him up by his robes, and who would have guessed that she had not noticed the support beam directly over her head as she started hopping on one foot in pain and knocked herself out?
Then, after the fact, the group was informed of the Amazon marriage laws, and they said that the woman had effectively married Ionis by allowing him to defeat her.
When the giantess came to only a moment after being knocked out, she had grabbed her husband by a leg and dragged him off somewhere to have a brief honeymoon … the sounds of which could be heard throughout the entire property even with the soundproof padding installed to keep the neighbours from complaining about the noise Peewee's experiments often made.
Luckily, Daishi had witnessed the battle and consequences, so when a couple of Amazons challenged him, he surrendered before they landed a blow on him. He wasn't ready to commit to anyone just yet.
In an effort to drown out the noise, Peewee had engaged in conversation with the least distracting member of the hunting party … Cologne.
The conversation, what wasn't interrupted by the screaming pleas of mercy and pain from Ionis, was enlightening, and not very reassuring.
Ionis would not be able to travel with his newly acquired wife, because it was the biologic enhancements Peewee provided with him regularly that not only kept him in magic, but also kept him alive.
This would normally have posed a problem to Amazon law, but seeing as the giantess in question was the least productive of the entire team, granted that didn't say much because they had all been hand picked by their Elders for their excellent skill and none of them had been working to their full potential, they could afford to let her remain on Earth, provided she was allowed to attend certain functions in Jade. In order to accomplish this, a scroll would be left behind for her, taking her directly to the Amazon village she was from. It had not been used to take the entire party back to Jade, because the landing would be too far from where they knew their target would be, and it only worked once on a small amount of mass compared to the large numbers their party held … they had another scroll that could take half the party, because it had originally been planned that each half of the party would have one, but recent events made Cologne decide that the Amazons native to this realm would remain after capturing Ranma.
In return for this favour, Peewee had been kind enough to inform Cologne of the recent changes in Ranma's name and wealth … the old bat didn't believe a word of it until he dug out an image of the front page of Science Monthly, where a serious Ranma was holding out his arm, with a small device in it that resembled a small bracelet with a very thin wire … the device had obviously been added after the first image, because the resolution didn't match entirely, but that wasn't important.
Cologne had immediately demanded a more extensive file on Ranma since she last saw him in the flesh, and if it hadn't been for the creaking of wood coming from the cane she used as transportation, Peewee would have felt tempted to refuse … however, if the old crone was strong enough to put enough strain on the dense wood, he didn't want her getting physical without an army of wererat clones between them … if only he had gone through with his abandoned idea …
So, in an effort to spare himself any pain, Peewee caved in and told the old woman all he knew of Ranma's itinerary for as long as he'd known about him … Cologne was not pleased to learn that most of her information about the young man had become obsolete, and for a moment, Peewee thought she would whack him over the head with the sturdy cane just to release some aggression.
At the moment, Peewee was reviewing his surveillance information on a projector, as there was little else he could do with the crowded lab.
-click-
An image of Penny Pincer and Charlotte appeared on the screen. It had been taken that very day, by Daishi because Zelda couldn't grip the camera while photographing without crushing it, and there was definitely something odd going on in that place … the harpy, Charlotte, was still wearing her maternity dress, but what was truly different, was that she had now, somehow, filled it out and seemingly done so over the weekend.
-click-
The image zoomed in on the bulging belly of the normally trim and thin harpy. It had definitely filled out over the weekend … the image a few days earlier did not show this pronounced a belly … and according to Zelda, who had followed the duo around in disguise, they had not purchased any nuts for the past week, so she could not have overeaten on them. That left only one possibility … somehow, the harpy had gotten pregnant, but how and whom with?
-click-
-click!-
Peewee blushed as he quickly skipped an image … he hoped no one saw it, because it would have been most embarrassing … someone had managed to sneak in an image of him during his potty training.
Only one person on this planet had access to those images … his mother …
She had not liked him having so may friends over at once, and this was probably her form of revenge … sneaking in embarrassing photos of him into his slides …
Oh, he'd show her … after his victory over Gina Diggers, of course. And with the Amazons there to assist, getting those werecreature samples would be child's play … at least according to his calculations of the women's skills and his knowledge of his own teams … they couldn't possibly lose, even with Brianna's army of peebos and Gina's hurtbots against them.
Without realising it, Peewee's chuckle started turning into a maniacal cackle.
-thud-
"Ow! Okay, who threw that shoe?"
Things weren't entirely as bad in the Diggers' place, but mostly because most of the family was in another realm.
Madrid was lounging on her bed, thoroughly enjoying herself.
The two wererats she had released from the holding cell were catering to her slightest whim, and were safe in her chambers, because this family thought it rude to snoop around other people's private quarters, despite the house being theirs.
She occasionally had them do surveillance of the property, or check on the lab, but other than that, her every waking moment was made easier with her wererat servants.
Genn and Dao were less pliant than she had anticipated, and wanted nothing to do with her schemes …
Genn was more concerned with mending the broken heart of her crush, Seance, who had realised that Gina would never return his feelings for her. Dao was nearly as heartbroken for the same reason, but he immersed himself in work in the lab.
Britanny was suspicious, but because she had no hard evidence to warrant invading Madrid's quarters, so she left it at being extra cautious around her.
However, the heartbroken mage might prove useful to her plans, reasoned Madrid as she ate a grape. When her host eventually found the tablet, having a mage on her side would only increase her chances for success.
Kuno Kodachi was in a foul mood. The reason for her mood was that her family was falling apart.
Her brother was in America and imprisoned for making terrorist threats, assaulting both civilians and policemen, and let's not forget resisting arrest … he had only made matters worse by attacking the first person he saw when he regained consciousness. It was simply bad luck that this person had been his assigned doctor and in the process of mending his broken bones. The family now faced the possibility of several lawsuits for his actions, and if they were sued, the family would be ruined without chance of recovery.
Her father was somewhere in Hawaii, lost in his own world of surfing, haircuts and palm trees, not to mention he was incommunicado. It wouldn't surprise her if the man had no idea of what his son had done, even if it had played on the news all over the world … granted, most of the world only played it as a minor incident, but the victim is always the most sensitive and thus more concerned about such events.
That man could blend into a Hawaiian crowd like a single grain of sand in a desert, which would make locating him nearly impossible unless one knew exactly where to look.
But what ticked her off the most, was that Ranma-sama was gone again, along with that redheaded witch.
She had found out that Ranma was alive and well through various media advertising Wild Horse inc. and its owner, showing him walking out of a bank nowhere near Nerima. However, she had yet to find out where he lived … for some reason, even the former Mrs Saotome had more or less disappeared not more than two weeks after her brother managed to tear himself loose from her control.
It was not bad that she knew that her Ranma-sama was under the control of the redheaded witch, but what bothered Kodachi greatly was the perverted deeds her Ranma-sama might be forced to perform while in the redhead's influence.
So far, the only possible connection between the redheaded witch and her Ranma-sama, was the redheaded woman Tendo Nabiki lived with … she bore a slight resemblance to the redhead, and was coincidentally the mother of her Ranma-sama, but there had been nothing to suggest that he had a sister or cousin and the redheaded witch had often been introduced as the cousin of the Tendo family …
Was this a plot for the Tendo women to have their way with her Ranma-sama with the blessing of his mother?
Impossible, Ranma-sama's mother was of good stock, from what her behaviour suggested, and would not tolerate having such acts of perversion taking place under her roof.
Could the redheaded witch have placed the former Mrs Saotome under her spell as well?
This could be part of the explanation of why the occupants of the apartment had seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth, but where had they gone to?
"Argh, this is giving me a headache …" Kodachi grumbled. "And where is Sasuke with my ice-cream?"
Back inside Bain, Gina's group of explorers had come across a door of sorts. Now they had congregated before it to devise a way to open it.
"The design of these ruins seems to follow a strict fractal pattern," explained Gina. "Like it's all part of a … mathematical formula … hopefully the door lock follows the same pattern."
Brianna, however, looked a little uneasy. "Gina?" she asked cautiously. "Isn't this all a bit … familiar … to you? Like we've studied this science before?"
"Yeah," agreed Gina. "It's on the tip of my tongue …"
Lydia choked back a snicker, revealing to all who heard it that she managed to get two separate meanings out of that sentence. Ignoring the sound, Gina continued.
"I just wish I could remember whose technological designs these ruins remind me of …"
Meanwhile, Ranma overheard Onoli stating to Dr Diggers that he was going to find a high vantage point, because there would likely be a conflict, and he would want to call for the rest of his Edge Guard when that time came.
"Heeere goes!" announced Gina as she pressed what she had figured out must be the combination for the door.
With a hiss, stale air escaped from behind the doors and the doorway was cleared for entry.
"All clear," called Brianna, who immediately stuck her head inside. "Just more of that pattern stuff …"
"Good," smirked Gina. "It looks like the last pieces of the puzzle are right here …"
"You've been copying down these patterns since we started, sis," stated Brianna and came up beside her, staring at the patterns to see if she could discern what her sister was, but gave up after a moment. "What's it all mean?"
Dr Diggers coughed uncomfortably. "Brianna, those patterns, as you refer to them, are actually writings in Ribbon," he explained. "Jade's Ancient writing symbols …" seeing Brianna's flat gaze, he suddenly became uncertain. "Aren't they?"
"'Fraid not, dad."
"These ribbons are really part of an immense integrated circuit!" explained Gina. Not taking her eyes off the computer. Ranma peeked over her shoulder to have a look at the readouts. "A circuit of incredible complexity … As a matter of fact, I'm willing to bet that Jade's ancient writing symbols are based on a computer chip created before our universe existed … and now that I have all of the circuit and its program entered, let's see what happens when I run it …"
With a loud humming, the light was turned on, displaying a raised platform and a comfortable-looking chair with a view of several surfaces that were probably monitors, considering what Gina mentioned about circuitry.
"Bingo," chirped Gina in triumph. "We now have control over the entire ship …"
"Ship?" It was uncertain who was asking, because the question was asked in numerous voices. Ranma looked around to see if anyone would give themselves away through facial expressions, but everyone in the room were shocked at the revelation.
"Says so right here in the data files I just opened," confirmed Gina. "This place is a ship … or rather, an ark …"
"Unbelievable," remarked Dr Diggers in awe.
"Not as unbelievable as what's coming next, dad," warned Gina, her eyes glued to her monitor.
Ranma resisted the urge to return to watching the thing over her shoulder, not only because continued practice of hanging over someone's shoulder is considered rude and annoying in most cultures, but because now that he had experienced the pleasures of the flesh with his current suitors, a situation would arise that was not at all suitable for the current time and place.
It was not needed for him to do so, in any case, as Gina held the small computer up for all to see. On the monitor was the image of a golden sphere in space, marred with lines of rigid, yet chaotic design. Surrounding the sphere, hovering barely above the surface of the gold, was what looked like clouds of grey metal, also sporting the same design on its surface.
Flying above this sphere, were a few disc-like space crafts.
"This is the data-file image of the planet "Jade"," Gina started. "About a billion years before completion … as you can see here, Jade is a device. A construction."
Noises of disbelief were made by those native to this world, but Gina would not be deterred.
"- They called it "Nexus"," she continued. "They made it, and the pocket dimension it exists in, just after our universe formed … It was to be the perfect "hiding place." A hiding place for three arks … extremely powerful ships which transported them and two other races from some great … great disaster."
Off to the side, Ranma could hear Dr Diggers mutter to himself in disbelief. It wasn't that he didn't trust his daughter to uncover the truth, but he worried about how the world and the Druid Council would react to it.
"Who are "They"?" asked Ranma before anyone could ask similar questions. He was curious … this civilisation who had created an entire dimension for a hiding place, independent of any outside power to maintain it … who were they, and what did they need to hide from if they were so powerful?
Gina started answering, but cut herself off after the first syllable in surprise.
"They are the Artificers!" she finally managed to gasp. "The Nomad Artificers! Jinkies! After years of trying to track down their history … years of chasing rumours and running into dead ends … years of coming up empty … here they are …"
Her awed, powerful emotions were clear in her speech and tone. This would be not unlike a physician discovering the ultimate cure to all disease after a lifetime of research, loss, sacrifice and dedication.
"Gina," interrupted Ranma carefully, placing an arm on her shoulder to remind her of the real world. "Please focus on the task at hand … you can get back to this later, when we're not in a hurry. Can you deactivate whatever's feeding G'Nolga with power?"
"R-right," stuttered Gina as she returned to the here-and-now. "The Command Throne-"
"Not so fast," interrupted a familiar voice. The Command Throne swivelled around to display the mastermind behind this evil plot. "I'm still using it …"
"Tirant?"
"… but you can have it when I'm done …" continued the bald megalomaniac smugly. "You are right, Gina … this is a ship, and I am the Captain now! Its advanced systems and sensors are under my command! And my security force doesn't like it when the passengers mutiny" As Tirant spoke, several metal orbs emerged from the shadows, some with spidery legs, and the rest floating without any visible means of support. They immediately took up defensive positions before the Command Throne, and those orbs possessing legs opened up by spreading their shells in six parts, revealing energy weapons beneath. "… as for G'Nolga … she is merely the recipient of the ships "away-team defence matrix" … I'm afraid that Julia is in for the beating of her life this time! You cannot save her!"
"Looks like we have to fight …" sighed Ranma. Though he loved the thrill of battle, with his loved ones there, the risk of any of them getting injured or worse was too high for him to enjoy.
"At least you won't do so alone!" a powerful voice added from behind them.
Standing there, was Onoli and the rest of the Edge Guard, weapons drawn and held threateningly. Taking their cue, most of Gina's team did the same.
"Prepare yourself, Tirant!" continued Onoli grandly. "For now, there will be a reckoning!"
Movement behind the Edge Guard caught Ranma's eye, and he turned towards it to see the rest of the mages that had been on the ship enter, prepared for battle.
"Don't forget us, Onoli," said Nali sternly.
"Tirant, it's time you learned the folly of infuriating Jade's magic users!" added a man that looked more like a bowling pin with glasses and sleeves attached to it than a person. Next to him was a very short person cracking his knuckles.
"Bring it on!" Tirant stated smugly, gesturing with a hand for them to do as he suggested.
The battle begun, but wasn't as much in the favour of the organic beings as they had thought … no spell they cast had any effect on the orbs, and their weapons did nothing to even scratch them.
With one pulse of bright purple energy, the magic users and Edge Guards were pushed to the ground in a rumbling blast.
The only ones remaining on their feet were Ranma and Tirant.
Tirant looked surprised at Ranma, who had not been effected by the weapon other than buffeting his clothes.
Ranma, on the other hand, was too occupied with his girlfriends, who had gotten hurt.
While it was nothing serious in any case, only a couple of bruises and scratches, it made Ranma angrier than he could ever remember being. Gina had been the only one not injured, but only because her personal shield was set to activate automatically. She was still shaken, but unhurt. That did not change anything for Ranma, though.
Tirant had hurt those he loved.
He – would - pay.
A chilling flame ignited behind Ranma's eyes, visible even from the Command Throne across the room, and the temperature seemed to drop considerably, despite the onboard computer's attempts at regulating it.
Not far from where Ranma had been, Dr Diggers also lost his cool, so to speak, and fired a concentrated Aura Beam at Tirant … it passed right through him … he wasn't real. He was an illusion!
This did nothing to quench Ranma's cool anger, it added to it. How dare that man injure the women he loved, who loved him back, and not even be present to take the punishment for it?
Ranma ignored the gloating speech the bald man made as he approached the raised platform in a controlled stride. At some time, though no one would be able to tell exactly when, Ranma shifted to hybrid form as he approached his destination.
When Ranma was within a few feet of the platform, the orbs took notice of him, and automatically moved in to defend the Command Throne.
Simultaneously, the orbs, both airborne and legged, opened fire on Ranma, only, Ranma wasn't there to get struck.
Out of nowhere, Ranma appeared crouching on an orb with spider legs.
The shrill sound of metal giving way under stress tortured the ears of everyone present as Ranma's clawed fingers sunk into the orb, tearing it open in a manner the orb had never been designed to be opened.
Once again, the orbs opened fire, but once more missed Ranma completely, instead striking their fellow orb and causing it to explode with enough force to once again knock everyone down, though this time only from the wall of displaced air pressing them away from their original position.
Ranma appeared before another orb, with one hand on each side.
Before anyone could blink, Ranma was gone, and the orb fell to the ground … as flat as a pancake, but nowhere near as appealing with its electronic guts spilling out along the edges.
There was no playfulness in Ranma's style of fighting any longer … he was dead serious, as he proved by repeating the previous crushing and using it as a discus to destroy another, and when he pulled the leg off one to slam another into a third one. A legged one lost one part of its shell, and had it shoved into its plasma weapon, causing a build-up of energy to be unleashed from within, leading to another explosion.
Ranma was now brutally economical with his movements, and deadly accurate in his strikes. He was a whirlwind of destruction that was neither stopped by energy blasts nor physical attacks by the orbs.
From the platform and the room in general, Ranma's slaughter of the machines was watched in awe, but Tirant was starting to get frightened.
"Bain!" he screamed. "Activate Energy Drain on this werecat mage!"
Once again, Ranma found himself encased in a pale blue glow, the whining noise once more reminding him of a flashbulb charging for its release. And once again, nothing happened to Ranma, who used his vacuum-tipped claws to shred an orb into tiny bits that fell lightly on the ground.
"Why isn't it working?" demanded Tirant desperately.
" Subject possesses no link to the Astral Plane, but relies on a strictly regulated internal source of power, " explained a calm, robotic female voice. " Subject is not accessible for draining … "
"How can that be?" a fearful Tirant demanded. "He wears the mage suit, and his abilities and species suggest a connection to the Astral Plane!"
" All systems deactivated, " answered the voice.
"WHAT?"
"Oh, didn't you want me to take over control of the ship?" Gina asked in mock apology. "I just thought you wouldn't mind, since you were busy, and in no physical state to stop me …"
-Tinkle!-Clank-Clank!-
The sound of metal falling down caused all attention to return to Ranma.
Not a single orb remained, legged or floating.
Standing amid the wreckage was Ranma, without as much as a speck of dust on him, and still not any less enraged.
Without a link to Bain, the projected image of Tirant fizzled into nothing.
While Ranma now had no focus for his anger, he knew that somewhere outside this ship, the real fiend was cowering and he intended to hunt the man down and put the fear in him of whatever torturous afterlife he believed in.
He suddenly noticed a huge screen, showing the battle between Julia and G'Nolga.
It was clear that in their absence, G'Nolga had given Julia quite a beating. The destruction in the Arena and the injuries on the tall redhead that had been thrown around showed as much. But now the tables had turned, and G'Nolga was getting her just dessert.
Everyone in the room had forgotten about Ranma's terrifying show of power, in favour of watching the cheating dwarven woman getting punished for her evil ways. As it was obvious who would win, cheering and encouraging shouts started emerging.
"Could you please get us out of here, Gina," Ranma ground out, visibly trying to reign in his anger. "I would like to finish what I started, and if I am forced to track the bastard down, he'll stand the chance of getting killed."
Gina did not protest, recognising the feral look from those times Britanny had thought Stryyp had been hurt and knowing it would be impossible to reason him out of his quest for vengeance until he was certain there was no way for him to complete said quest, or had completed it. Now that she thought about it, this was pretty much standard operating procedure when the purchasing of tuna was concerned as well … werecats, go figure.
While Gina started typing away on her computer to get them all out of Bain, the rest of those in the room cheered as one, causing the two on the platform to look to the screen just in time to witness Julia sinking to her knees and raising her arm in the traditional show of victory as the crowds in the Arena roared and cheered as well.
Julia had won.
She was once more the Arms-Master of Jade, and her name was cleared of dishonour.
It took a few minutes for Gina to manage transporting everyone off the ship, but as soon as they all materialised in the ruined room that Brianna had blown a hole through, Ranma ignored his discomforts from the trip and started looking for Tirant.
Unfortunately, or fortunately for Tirant, the only person in the room was that off bespectacled man with a grey stripe in his black hair.
"Worry not, my friends," the man greeted them merrily, if not smugly. "The villains are now in the hands of the proper authorities-"
-Crunch!-
The man spared a moment from his speech to witness Ranma slamming his head into the wall in frustration, causing that part of the wall to cave in and shower everyone in a light coating of dust, but leaving no visible damage to him.
"However," continued the man. "You must all still hurry!" Ranma looked up expectantly, hoping for someone to let his frustrations out on. "Julia's victory celebration is about to start, and she's beginning to wonder where her husband and daughters are … not to mention their companions …"
-Crash!-
Everyone faltered in their celebratory moods to watch as Ranma pounded the ground with his fists, creating a deep and wide hole to appear in the dense stone it was made of.
The performance was repeated for nearly a minute until Ranma was nearly eight feet deep in floor, with bloodied fists and panting from the effort of calming down.
Of course, his fists were healed again before he chose to emerge from the hole he had pounded into the ground, but the blood still coated his hands and clung to his fur.
"Perhaps it would be better if we took a short cut I know of," suggested Dr Diggers. The sparkle of energy coming from his hands suggested that he was making a portal, and the group was not let down when one sprung into life, showing the tavern they stayed at on the other end.
The festive mood of the people of the town was obvious as several drunken men and women staggered past the portal without paying it any heed.
Ranma wasn't much in the mood to celebrate, and was about to voice this to his girlfriends when he felt a pair of arms encircle his chest from behind, and a modest set of breasts pressing against his shoulders. Another pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist, and another set of breasts pressed against his side. This was repeated until he had a woman clinging to his back, his sides and his arms, pouring love and soothing words over him.
Needless to say, Ranma's foul mood was washed away in an instant, and he followed Dr Diggers through the portal, his girlfriends still clinging to him.
The last thing he thought before hitting the swirling vortex of energy, was how lucky he had been, falling in love with all these lovely women, and having them return his feelings. He felt like he could take on the world, simply from how strong the emotion was that energised him. But he was still terrified that something might happen to any one of his girlfriends … whosoever was the cause of any pain inflicted on them would have to face him … and if that day had been any hint of things to come, it wasn't likely that that person would survive the encounter.
Author's notes; I am sorry, once again for the late update, life is very hectic at the moment, what with relatives leaving the country to celebrate Christmas with other members of the family who live abroad, friends returning from University that want to spend time with me, annoying siblings that start their Christmas holidays by remaining up at all hours of the day and are as hyper about it as a hummingbird on steroids and caffeine … I am also, admittedly, writing plot outlines for other fanfictions, ideas that I want to get down before my departure for an unknown period of time … so that I will not forget them while my mind is occupied with other things.
I am curious … could someone out there, just to enlighten me, tell me what classes are taught, normally, at American and Japanese High Schools? I think some of my ideas, currently on ice, could really benefit from this information, and I don't know where to search for it on the net … so who better to ask than those that might know? You don't have to answer for both countries unless you really know, but I'd really appreciate it if I got the classes over message through my profile.
Another little odd thing, just thought I'd mention it … despite my slow updates these past few months, my average still comes out to a little less than an update a week … it's been a little over eight months since I started, and with thirty-three chapters under my belt, that makes the average a little less than one chapter a week … maybe three and a quarter a month … strange, right?
Finally, I'd like to remind my readers of what the purpose of my "small writing tip" is … it is simply to illustrate words that are often mistaken for one another, and clarify their meaning and purpose. In case anyone are curious, I decided to add this reminder because I recently got a message asking me the reason behind the seemingly incoherent tips, even though they thought them a good idea.
Credits: The scenes with the various factions were added by suggestions from TerraBull
Small writing tip; "Believe" and "Belief". "Belief" is a feeling of certainty that something exists, is true, or is good. If you "Believe" that something is true, you think it is true, but you are not sure. While these two are similar to one another in both meaning and spelling, they are often confused … several authors on the net often confuse these two.
Second writing tip; supplied by Sierra-Falls "Clam" and "Calm". A "Calm" person does not show or feel any worry, anger or excitement. "Calm" is used to refer to a quiet, still, or peaceful atmosphere in a place. "Clams" are a kind of shellfish which can be eaten.
Third writing tip (a one-time thing that I felt was urgent); "Fell" and "Feel". If you "Feel" a particular emotion or physical sensation, you experience it. "Fell" the past tense of the verb to "Fall".
