NaNoWriMo: 50,877 words!
Nov. 28th, 2007 09:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miko2Yay me! I had the strength! I had the resolve! I had a lot of long-winded scenes that go on forever and ever!
Warm air hit Ranma in the face; it was like walking into a wall. The crash of surf and the cry of seagulls echoed in the distance. The air had the tang of sea salt. Bright sunlight warmed her skin, and palm trees swayed in a gentle breeze.
Ranma and Ragamuffin stood on the marble deck of some sort of seaside resort. To their left was a Mediterranean villa of sorts, with white stucco walls and red clay tiled roof. To the right the deck overlooked a cliff leading down to the sea.
“Where are we?” Ranma asked. ‘Where did the school go?”
“Nyaa!” Ragamuffin said. “This is Aqua!”
“Aqua?”
“It’s a Haven,” Ragamuffin said. “That’s what Don Sphynx calls it. It’s a kind of pocket dimension.”
Ranma looked about. She could see ocean in every direction.
”It looks like an island,” she said.
“It is, it is!” the cat girl said. “The best thing about an island is that I love to eat fish!”
They walked to the building. Large sliding glass doors led into a wide-open kitchen/dining/living room area. The kitchen counter tops were tiled stone, as was the floor. A white spiral staircase led upstairs.
“Are we in the South Pacific then?” Ranma asked.
“No, no, weren’t you listening?” Ragamuffin replied. “It’s a pocket dimension. It’s a world all by itself. It’s, like, my own private universe, sorta. I mean, really it’s Fatima’s place, but I can come here any time I want.”
Ragamuffin led Ranma upstairs. There were several bedrooms, a restroom, and an upper deck. On the main floor was a bathroom with a very large jacuzi tub. It wasn’t exactly Japanese style, but it looked inviting, and big enough to accommodate six or more at once.
The living room was large, with a central fireplace. It contained comfortable chairs and a pillow-filled sunken pit. One door lead to something Ragamuffin called a “fall-in closet”. ‘It’s like a walk-in closet, but deeper,” she said. “It’s, like, an extra-dimensional space. That’s what Fatima says. I don’t know how far back it goes, but there’s more clothes in there than you can imagine.”
Stairs led down to a basement with a pantry, wine cellar and three storage rooms.
“Nice place,” Ranma said as they climbed the stairs to the ground floor.
“I like it,” Ragamuffin said. “It really isn’t all that big – just the island and a few miles of ocean, that’s all there is. But it’s fun to come here and hang out.”
“But we should probably be heading back,” Ranma said. “Everyone else is going to wonder what we’re up to.”
The cat girl shook her head. “No,” she said. “Inside here is outside of time.”
“Inside is outside... what?”
“We can stay here as long as we want,” Ragamuffin said, “and no time will have passed when we return.”
“Really? Like when we traveled to Rocky Road?” Ranma asked. “We were there three days, but we got back just a few hours after we left.”
“Not ‘zactly like that,” Princess Ragamuffin said. “That was a time difference – that happens between dimensions, you know. Ojos Azules says dimension travel causes time problems – time is malleable. That’s what he says. But time doesn’t move here, because we’re outside of time. And if we’re outside of time, that means that time shouldn’t move.”
The cat girl smiled at her own logic, and added, “Daddy says I shouldn’t spend too much time here, though. Like, I can’t spend more than a week here before going back for a day or so. If I spent a whole month here, it would be bad, or something. I’m not sure why though.”
Ranma had noticed a few strange things about the place. As they stepped back outside, she could feel a tingling on her skin. It was constant, as if the air were charged with electricity. Also, there was something slightly unreal about the sky and the sea. It was like a digitally enhanced photograph with over-saturated colors. Everything looked too bright and picture-perfect to be real.
Ranma glanced at a lavender rose bush and noticed something else. “Ragamuffin,” Ranma said, “why are the bees purple?”
“Fatima likes that color,” the girl replied. “The seagulls are purple too, and so are a lot of the fish in the sea.”
“You said that name before,” Ranma replied. “Who’s Fatima?”
They rounded a corner of the house. There, in front of them, was a pool of crystal blue water. Beside it there was a woman sunbathing on a wood chaise lounge. She wore sunglasses and a very tiny thong bikini, with no top. She had an iced drink in one hand. “Oh, hello, Ragamuffin!” she said when she saw them. “Who is your friend?”
“This is Magical Princess Angel Strawberry!” Ragamuffin exclaimed. “Although her real name is Ranma Saotome.” She turned to Ranma. “This is Fatima. She’s a genie. She owns this place.”
Ranma bowed. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Fatima,” she said. She blinked, and added, “Wait a second. Did you say she’s a genie?”
“That’s right,” Fatima replied. She stared at Ranma a moment. “Hmmm. That’s a Jusenkyo curse, isn’t it?”
Ranma’s eyes expanded. “How can you tell that?”
“I am a creature of magic, Darling,” the woman said. “Genie, remember? I know magic when I see it...."
Warm air hit Ranma in the face; it was like walking into a wall. The crash of surf and the cry of seagulls echoed in the distance. The air had the tang of sea salt. Bright sunlight warmed her skin, and palm trees swayed in a gentle breeze.
Ranma and Ragamuffin stood on the marble deck of some sort of seaside resort. To their left was a Mediterranean villa of sorts, with white stucco walls and red clay tiled roof. To the right the deck overlooked a cliff leading down to the sea.
“Where are we?” Ranma asked. ‘Where did the school go?”
“Nyaa!” Ragamuffin said. “This is Aqua!”
“Aqua?”
“It’s a Haven,” Ragamuffin said. “That’s what Don Sphynx calls it. It’s a kind of pocket dimension.”
Ranma looked about. She could see ocean in every direction.
”It looks like an island,” she said.
“It is, it is!” the cat girl said. “The best thing about an island is that I love to eat fish!”
They walked to the building. Large sliding glass doors led into a wide-open kitchen/dining/living room area. The kitchen counter tops were tiled stone, as was the floor. A white spiral staircase led upstairs.
“Are we in the South Pacific then?” Ranma asked.
“No, no, weren’t you listening?” Ragamuffin replied. “It’s a pocket dimension. It’s a world all by itself. It’s, like, my own private universe, sorta. I mean, really it’s Fatima’s place, but I can come here any time I want.”
Ragamuffin led Ranma upstairs. There were several bedrooms, a restroom, and an upper deck. On the main floor was a bathroom with a very large jacuzi tub. It wasn’t exactly Japanese style, but it looked inviting, and big enough to accommodate six or more at once.
The living room was large, with a central fireplace. It contained comfortable chairs and a pillow-filled sunken pit. One door lead to something Ragamuffin called a “fall-in closet”. ‘It’s like a walk-in closet, but deeper,” she said. “It’s, like, an extra-dimensional space. That’s what Fatima says. I don’t know how far back it goes, but there’s more clothes in there than you can imagine.”
Stairs led down to a basement with a pantry, wine cellar and three storage rooms.
“Nice place,” Ranma said as they climbed the stairs to the ground floor.
“I like it,” Ragamuffin said. “It really isn’t all that big – just the island and a few miles of ocean, that’s all there is. But it’s fun to come here and hang out.”
“But we should probably be heading back,” Ranma said. “Everyone else is going to wonder what we’re up to.”
The cat girl shook her head. “No,” she said. “Inside here is outside of time.”
“Inside is outside... what?”
“We can stay here as long as we want,” Ragamuffin said, “and no time will have passed when we return.”
“Really? Like when we traveled to Rocky Road?” Ranma asked. “We were there three days, but we got back just a few hours after we left.”
“Not ‘zactly like that,” Princess Ragamuffin said. “That was a time difference – that happens between dimensions, you know. Ojos Azules says dimension travel causes time problems – time is malleable. That’s what he says. But time doesn’t move here, because we’re outside of time. And if we’re outside of time, that means that time shouldn’t move.”
The cat girl smiled at her own logic, and added, “Daddy says I shouldn’t spend too much time here, though. Like, I can’t spend more than a week here before going back for a day or so. If I spent a whole month here, it would be bad, or something. I’m not sure why though.”
Ranma had noticed a few strange things about the place. As they stepped back outside, she could feel a tingling on her skin. It was constant, as if the air were charged with electricity. Also, there was something slightly unreal about the sky and the sea. It was like a digitally enhanced photograph with over-saturated colors. Everything looked too bright and picture-perfect to be real.
Ranma glanced at a lavender rose bush and noticed something else. “Ragamuffin,” Ranma said, “why are the bees purple?”
“Fatima likes that color,” the girl replied. “The seagulls are purple too, and so are a lot of the fish in the sea.”
“You said that name before,” Ranma replied. “Who’s Fatima?”
They rounded a corner of the house. There, in front of them, was a pool of crystal blue water. Beside it there was a woman sunbathing on a wood chaise lounge. She wore sunglasses and a very tiny thong bikini, with no top. She had an iced drink in one hand. “Oh, hello, Ragamuffin!” she said when she saw them. “Who is your friend?”
“This is Magical Princess Angel Strawberry!” Ragamuffin exclaimed. “Although her real name is Ranma Saotome.” She turned to Ranma. “This is Fatima. She’s a genie. She owns this place.”
Ranma bowed. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Fatima,” she said. She blinked, and added, “Wait a second. Did you say she’s a genie?”
“That’s right,” Fatima replied. She stared at Ranma a moment. “Hmmm. That’s a Jusenkyo curse, isn’t it?”
Ranma’s eyes expanded. “How can you tell that?”
“I am a creature of magic, Darling,” the woman said. “Genie, remember? I know magic when I see it...."
