Hi there,

Thanks for your comments.  I'll address your replies below.  Please note
that I'll answer your questions as best I can without giving any spoilers.
If you (or anyone else) would like more direct answers, I'm happy to provide
them privately.

----- Original Message -----

I duno if that was quite a lime... but in ways it did
hint.

Yeah, I know.  I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

Mostly general comments.

The scene with Akane and Ryouga was great.  One question
though... Akane should be able to stop the
tranquilizers... they likely contain water and her blood
obviously contains water...

It was no ordinary tranquiliser.  As becomes apparent later in the chapter,
Akane has been given something that not only sedates her, but also
accelerates the development of Ryujin within her - hence Ryoga noticing the
change in her hair (it's happening much faster than usual).   Hammer and
Anvil are quite intent upon bringing Ryujin to the surface as quickly as
possible, through whatever means necessary.

One thing you left a bit too open is WHY Ryouga is going
to help Akane (it seems kinda obvious to me).  Not just
because she healed him... not just because she is another
dragon... but with everything he and Yoiko have gathered
and the extra questions they have... they obviously know
something is really fishy here to say the least.  But why
help Akane?  Going forward with the Wing would be a chance
to see and talk to her often to get answers.   Why does
henot have any intention of going forwarded with it?  So
that he can at least delay if not foil their plans?

Ryoga, like the other people aboard the Leviathan Spring, had been told
there was one dragon - Ranma - and one dragon hunter - Ukyo.  To find out
that there is another dragon - and what's more, a dragon who helped him,
rather than trying to kill him - is a major shake-up in his beliefs.

The Seraph Initiative was, he has been told, created to help combat the
dragons.  Why would Seraph Wing be implanted into a dragon?  How does that
help to get rid of them?  It doesn't make any sense to him, and so he's not
about to jump in and install Seraph Wing in Akane's body without asking some
big questions.  Perhaps it would have been clearer in the story to say he
had no plans to install Seraph Wing -yet-.  There's nothing to say he never
will - if he discovers there is a good reason to do so.

That said, even though he doesn't intend to install Seraph Wing, he has told
Hunter he will, mainly so he will have continued access to Akane.

Ranma and Ukyo... why does Ryukyu want Ukyo?  We know why
Ranma "wants" her... what was that sequence... Ryukyu
retaking her... retainer? protector?  Was that what had
happened... Ukyo the betrayer was orginally Ryukyu's?

Hmm.  This one is tricky to answer.

Ranma wants Ukyo dead, obviously, but can't kill her until she knows where
Akane is.  Ranma's thoughts about inflicting pain and suffering upon Ukyo
brought Ryukyu to the surface, where he quickly took over.  At the end of
their little embrace, Ranma is just as disoriented as Ukyo.  Neither of them
expected it to happen, and neither of them understands why it did.

As for the whys - why Ryukyu acted the way he did - I'm afraid the answers
will have to wait.  I can't tell you that one without spoiling the surprise.

Here's a problem... Kayoko happened too long ago for them
to have good data on what happened.  So why do Hammer and
Anvil know so much?  That was not a time of technology...
particularly in Japan.  And even if Phoenix had records
from then (by Ranma's description of them you'd think
not)... they speak almost as if they had been there.

You're quite right.  The technology to create Hidari clones did not arise
until well after Kayoko's time, so they must have acquired the knowledge of
those events through another channel.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass
on this one for now, because telling you would spoil it.  :)

How could you end the chapter there... you created more
questions and answered just about none that came before...
 it doesn't feel like anything happened this chapter...

I'm not sure what to say to this, other than to apologise for the lack of
answers, to request you indulge me for a little longer, and to promise that
the answers are coming.  It will all come together in the end, in what I
hope will be quite a cool way.  The story is a mystery as much as it is
anything else, and it's my hope that readers will have picked up the clues
and figured out the end long before I reach it.  How well that intent
translates into the story remains to be seen.

I can say that a little light will be shed upon matters in the next chapter,
when Ranma arrives at the Spring and all hell breaks loose.

Regards,
R. E.

========

Ten
http://ten.waxwolf.com
Perfection has a price.

========

             .---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 -----'