Another Ranma 1/2 fanfic by Ronin.  All characters herein are property of
Takahashi Rumiko.  If you want to bludgeon me to death for using them, at
least wait until -after- you've read the fic! :)

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--Pig In A Poke--

	The clouds were gathering.  Puffing up with ominous threats, the
slate-coloured thunderheads roiled and tumbled slowly through the air, 
curling and billowing as they blotted out the last feeble rays of the
setting sun.  Trailing swiftly behind them came shadows, dread retainers
to their stormy masters.  The wind sprang up whispering threats and
dark promises that curled high and shrill through the sullen evening.

	This grim entourage brought with it the crackle of tension, and
the first creeping threads of unease that set the blood racing through
the body of Ryoga Hibiki.  Snapping open his umbrella, he presented its
face to the heavens, a flimsy shield against the terror that threatened
from above.

	Raindrops began to fall, first in ones and twos, increasing to a 
full fledged battalion of water drops pouring from the sky without mercy.
The fierce drumming of rain on the pavement mixed with the rapid patter of
running feet.  Ryoga ran from the water.  It was water that brought the
terror, water that was at the root of his suffering.  Every raindrop was
a mirror in which he ran aimlessly, each puddle so like a certain spring
in far-off China that Ryoga leapt as he ran, hoping that somehow he could
avoid the water and the curse it brought.

	He slipped.

	Ryoga's scream was drowned in the torrent of water that battered
at the gates of his mind.  Pounding down the doors, it washed in with a 
victorious burble, bringing with it stinging change and the pain began.
His flesh caught fire and crawled along his bones; twisting, shrinking, 
tightening around him like a vise.  The familiar dull ache sprang to life,
but its familiarity made it no easier to bear.  The slowly increasing
pressure was savage and unrelenting, squeezing at Ryoga's head until it
felt as though he'd been caught in a vise.

	Ryoga's thoughts began to squish together, as an invisible hand 
pushed him down into the pool of himself and held him there.  Memories
thoughts images all compacting into one another like the shell of a
colourful snail.  The door slammed shut like always, and Ryoga was left
where it was too small too dark NOT ENOUGH ROOM!

	Out of the tight shadows squeezing around him strange impulses
sprang, cackling with glee and sinking their tiny sharp teeth into him.
The need to root, to grunt, to roll around in the mud, to squeal and flee
erupted in his brain.  Perceptions shifted, the -world- shifted, sight
becoming dim, smells becoming layered and confusing, sounds were wrong.
Everything was the same but different, a twisted grotesque parody of truth.

	Half-mad with pain and terror, Ryoga screamed, pouring out the
anguish in his soul.  A cry was born in his belly, raged up his throat
and erupted from his open mouth.  

	'Bweeeeeeeee!'


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Author's notes:

This story came from something Jesse and I were discussing on the Ranma
ML about Ryoga and Genma's animal forms, and whether they retained some
pig and panda instincts and memories while in those forms.

The question came up that what happens when you try to fit all that is
human; i.e. thoughts memories images and the vital spark which is Ryoga
Hibiki into the brain the size of a pig's.  

The result was the little fic you see before you.

Ronin.
msimmons@bcgroup.net
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/2506