Disclaimer: If I owned Ranma 1/2, Ah Megamisama!, and Sailormoon, would
I be posting free fanfics on the web? 

Warning: If symptoms persist, consult your crystal ball.

Warning: Altaverse (Keichi ain't here, and the senshi timeline is 
all messed up.)

"words"

'thoughts'

A Time for Wild Horses chapter 1
by Jose Argao


	"I'm sooooo sleepy."

	Usagi Tsukino did not like waking up early. In fact, she hated
it. She could never understand what drove so many people to get up and 
accomplish something useful when they could have been sleeping soundly
in their beds. She looked at Rei, seated beside her on the train. 

	"Rei, did you bring any manga in your purse? I can't seem to
stay awake."

	Rei turned her head to look at the girl she both loved and 
hated. Taking a few seconds to narrow her eyes in anger, she quickly
turned away from the blonde and resumed staring out the window.

	"Aw, come on Rei! You aren't still mad at me are you? I didn't
mean to ruin your dress like that, but it was our anniversary and I
didn't have anything to wear! How was _I_ supposed to know that we'd
get attacked in the middle of the night? I promise to replace it after 
I've saved enough money."

	Rei looked at her friend once again, and realized that Usagi
was on the verge of tears. Angry as she was over the destruction of her
expensive garment, she realized that she could hardly blame Usagi for
the circumstances that lead up to it. She smiled at Usagi and felt the
tension in her muscles draining away.

	"It's okay, don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault so I
won't make you pay for the dress. Just promise never to borrow clothes
from me again."

	Usagi's face lit up with a smile as she hugged Rei fiercely.

	"Really? You're the best, Rei!"

	Rei rolled her eyes and got back to looking outside. A few 
seconds later, Usagi fell asleep.

	Some people might have seen it as adorable, the way her head
lolled from side to side as the train she was riding went along on its 
way. Others might have looked at the strange smile forming in her face
and wondered what happy dream could have been causing it.

	Rei just hoped Usagi would stop drooling on her shoulder.

	On the seats across from them, the other inner senshi wondered
what it was that Setsuna wanted this time. It wasn't like her to call
them so far from Juuban.

	"Fascinating..." Ami Mizuno continued staring at her computer, 
as she had been doing since the train had begun to near Nerima. From
time to time she would frown as it gave her another reading she didn't
expect.

	"Huh? Did you say something, Ami-chan?" Minako momentarily
stopped admiring the cute guy several seats away and tried to see
what the ice senshi was getting so excited about. 

	"I've been getting strange readings since we neared Nerima. 
There are a lot of very powerful auras in there, I think." Ami answered 
the question without looking up from the tiny screen in front of her.

	"Powerful beings? Could they be enemies?" Makoto turned her
head to Ami excitedly.

	"No, that's the strange thing about them. All the auras 
indicate beings with power either equal to or greater than our senshi
forms, but they're all undeniably human." Ami pressed a few buttons on 
her computer's keypad, and frowned again.

	"Maybe they're disguising themselves. Could they possibly be 
masking their auras?" Makoto still wasn't convinced. 

	"I'll bet it has something to do with Setsuna calling us there.
Maybe we should wait until she's finished telling us what she has to 
say. If she doesn't mention the sources of the readings, we can always
ask her afterward, right?" Minako again turned to the cute guy. Maybe
she should go over to him and introduce herself...

	Ami nodded. "Minako is right. Setsuna should be able to shed
some light on this."

	"I'll bet it's another being come to destroy the world or
something." Makoto cracked her knuckles, almost wishing that there
would be new enemies to fight. Nothing much has happened for the past
few weeks, and she was itching to fight.
	
	Minako sighed as she saw the cute guy kiss the man beside him
on the lips. A large sweat drop appeared behind her head.

*****

	Skuld was not happy. She had been watching Ranma's life through
the Yggdrasil and so far she couldn't see anything different from the
way things were before. She should have been relieved, but she was 
actually even more afraid because of it. It was her firm belief that
everything Urd does would inevitably lead to trouble, and the longer
the lag between the act and the trouble, the bigger the trouble would
turn out to be.

	She looked at Ranma's sleeping form on his futon and sighed. 
She would never admit it to anyone, but she'd had a crush on him since
he was five. He was so cute then!

	"He's cute now," the young Goddess whispered to herself. 
Suddenly, she found what she was looking for and gasped. 

	Getting up from her seat, she slowly made her way to talk to 
the one person she trusted with her secret.
	
	The fact that she had indirectly caused Ranma's curse was 
constantly weighing on Skuld's shoulders. She felt guilty that he 
had to suffer so because of a slip of her tongue. However, no matter 
how much she wanted to, she could not interfere as long as Urd was in 
charge of him.

	"How'd she get father to agree to that deal anyway?" Skuld
could no longer remember how many times she had asked herself that 
question through the years. She knew better than to question the will 
of her father, though.

	Finally reaching the room she was headed for, she knocked on it
three times. Shortly after, a brown-haired young woman opened the door.

	"Oh, hello Skuld! What a pleasant surprise!" Belldandy stood
aside, waving her sister inside.

	"Oh Oneesama, Urd's doing something to him again, and I can't 
_do_ anything!" Skuld ran to her sister and hugged her.

	"Calm down, it's not your fault." Belldandy led her sister to
her bed, where she stroked her sister's hair and comforted her.

	"But I said, and then Urd said, and now he's..." the young 
goddess babbled incoherently.

	"I can't understand a word you're saying. Now, begin by telling
me exactly what happened." Belldandy hated the way Skuld blamed herself
for the things that Urd did to Ranma. However, there was little she, or 
anyone else for that matter, could do. The two goddesses continued 
talking for some time.

*****
	
	Ranma coughed and sputtered as a bucket of water was dumped on
him, waking him up from restful slumber. Now a she, the young martial
artist sat up suddenly and collapsed into a fit of coughing. Quickly
turning to the person who splashed him, his eyes narrowed into slits
as anger overtook his good sense.

	"What'cha do _that_ for? It ain't even a school day! I don't 
have any dumb classes to attend so lay off!"

	Akane took little notice of his outburst and bopped him on the
head with the bucket she was holding.

	"What did you _do_ to Ryoga yesterday? Kasumi told me he was
here and that he was a wreck! You know you shouldn't bully others,
Ranma! Why are you always so mean to Ryoga anyway? He's such a sweet
guy, not like _some_ people I know."

	"What're you talking about? Ryoga attacked _me_, not the other
way around! He even had Mousse and Kuno with him this time!" Ranma
angrily got up and started taking off his wet shirt. He'd planned to
sleep in today, but now that he was awake he might as well get some
practice in while it was still relatively early.

	"Yeah right Ranma, you were probably teasing him again! Ryoga
wouldn't just attack you for no reason." Akane crossed her arms over 
her chest, pretending not to notice that Ranma's breasts were _still_
bigger than hers.

	"Oh yeah? How would _you_ know that, Akane?" Ranma opened a
drawer and started rummaging through it for a change of clothes.

	"I'll have you know that Ryoga has _always_ been nice to me and
that he has never acted badly in my presence.

	"Fine, if you like him so much, why don't you just go off and
marry him then! That is, if he'd even want to marry an uncute, unsexy
girl like you!" 

	"Why you little... DIE, RANMA!" Akane swung at Ranma with a 
wicked uppercut, sending him flying through the roof only to land right
in the middle of the Koi pond.

	"Uncute tomboy," Ranma muttered under his breath as he started 
getting up.

	"I heard that!" Akane's voice rang through the house as she 
started moving towards the pond to inflict further punishment on her
fiance. She wasn't all that surprised to find that he had already fled
by the time she got there.

	"He's probably running off to do something perverted with Ukyo
and Shampoo, the little hentai." Akane continued to grumble through
the rest of the morning.

	'Maybe I should go off to Ucchan's for a while,' Ranma thought
to himself as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. 'It's not exactly safe
to be at the Tendo's for now.'

	When Ranma had first arrived at the Tendo residence, he had
thought that he'd found a home at last. Alas, even after all the time
he's been living there, he still couldn't think of it as such. He'd
always felt so... unwelcome there, as if his engagement to Akane was
the only reason they tolerated his presence. 

	'It's not like I don't help out around the house. The least
they could do is make me feel wanted at least.' Ranma continued 
jumping from rooftop to rooftop while deep in thought. He never even
noticed the green haired woman watching him from afar.

	"I must stop it before it's too late." Setsuna looked at her 
watch to find that the other senshi would not be arriving for at least
another hour. Walking with a grace which made the small, routine action
seem beautiful, she made her way into the ice cream shop behind her.
Moving to an unoccupied booth, she sat down and prepared to wait.

*****
	
	"Well, that _could_ get very problematic." Belldandy continued 
stroking Skuld's back, but her mind was miles away from her sister. If 
what Skuld said was true, Urd's antics would have repercussions that 
would reach far into the future, and might even change the fate of the 
world itself. 

	"I know that, but there's nothing we can do! Ranma's off limits
to us." Skuld hugged her sister harder.

	"Oh, I wouldn't go _that_ far." Belldandy held her sister at
arm's length.

	"Huh? What do you mean?" Skuld blinked twice. "I've read the
contract. There aren't any loopholes in it. Aside from father, Urd is
the only one who can do anything to him."

	Belldandy smiled. "Oh, I know that. Ranma is completely 
shielded from our influence by Urd's contract with father. Of course, 
there are ways of getting to him without having to directly affect him 
in any way."

	Skuld's eyes flashed with excitement, and her lips formed a
smile. "Yes, go on."

*****
	
	"Where is she?" 

	Minako looked around her one more time and sure enough, Setsuna 
was nowhere in sight. Ami was beside her glancing around as well and 
was no more successful than her friend had been.

	"Maybe she's not here yet." Makoto spared the ice cream parlor
a cursory glance, not really expecting to find the green haired senshi
of Pluto.

	"I don't think so. Setsuna was never late before and I doubt 
that she'd be any less punctual now. If anything, she's probably 
already left. After all, we _are_ ten minutes late." Ami glared at 
the two unusually silent girls behind her.

	"Ami's right. You shouldn't have done what you did. Imagine,
shouting at each other in a public vehicle!" Minako frowned at her two
companions.

	"Don't look at me! It's not _my_ fault that meatball-head here
keeps having perverted thoughts even in her sleep!" Rei crossed her
arms in front of herself and frowned.

	"I was _not_ having perverted thoughts! I told you I was having
a dream!" Usagi was on the verge of tears, only her pride holding
them in check.

	"A perverted dream, for sure!" Rei glared at Usagi, staring
down the blonde schoolgirl with her venomous gaze.

	"It was _not_ a perverted dream! My thoughts are completely
pure!" Usagi's cheeks burned bright red with embarrassment.

	"What are you talking about, Usagi? You were _humping_ my leg!
What else could it possibly been?" Rei shivered in disgust at the 
memory of one of her best friends rubbing up against her in ways that
she'd much rather forget about.

	"I was dreaming about riding!" The blush on Usagi's cheeks 
burned brighter, the other's taking it as a sign of guilt. 

	"You can say _that_ again." Rei rolled her eyes.

	"Horses! I was dreaming about riding horses! Why won't you
believe me? It's the truth!" 

	"Oh God, they're at it again." Makoto rubbed her fingers 
against her temples.

	"How embarrassing." Minako uttered a silent prayer to the gods
that no one she knew was here.

	"That's enough. You will stop your bickering this instant."

	The five girls whirled to find Setsuna looking at them with a 
serious expression on her face. 

	"When did _you_ get here? I never noticed you come in!" the
other girls nodded in agreement at Minako's statement.

	"That does not matter right now * . There are more pressing
matters that need to be discussed. Let us sit there." Setsuna gestured
to an empty booth and the girls all seated themselves, curious at what
it was that was so important.

	"Well? What's so important that you had to drag us all the way
here just to say it?" Makoto still hadn't forgotten about the strange
reading Ami got earlier, and she was itching to find out more about
them.

	"I think it would be better to demonstrate." Setsuna glanced at
her watch. "Yes, I believe it is just about to begin."

	"Huh? What's about to be-" Usagi's sentence was interrupted by
a loud crash from outside.

*****

	"Die, Ranma!" 

	Ranma dodged another flurry of punches from Ryoga before 
feinting to the right and kicking the fanged martial artist. The blow
hit him directly on his back, the force enough to send him through a
wall and onto street outside the house whose backyard they had been
fighting in.

	"What is it this time, Ryoga?" Ranma dropped into a stance as
Ryoga quickly recovered from the hit, brushing himself off as he stood
up.

	"You know perfectly well what it's about, Ranma! I can see 
through your plans like they were the clearest glass. You beat me up
yesterday so you could spend today cheating on Akane!" Ryoga charged
at Ranma, enraged that he hadn't gotten a single good hit in so far.

	"It's not like I had a choice, you know! Akane threw me out
before I could eat any breakfast, _that's_ why I was at Ucchan's. What
do you want me to do, starve to death?" Ranma dodged a left straight
punch and blocked the two fingers striking at his eyes. Grabbing 
Ryoga by the collar of his shirt, Ranma moved to throw him over his
shoulder into a wall. 

	Ryoga was ready for it this time, however, and reversed the 
throw. Flipping through the air and rebounding off the wall, Ranma 
jumped high into the air, preparing to launch a kick at Ryoga on his 
way down.

	Ryoga saw the move coming and jumped into the air to meet him.
The two exchanged blows for a few seconds before dropping back down,
turning quickly back to each other.

*****

	"It's unbelievable, if I'm not mistaken, _both_ of them have
enough power to match our senshi forms! They're even stronger than the
negaverse generals but the readings indicate that they're both humans!"
Ami frantically typed on the keypad of her computer as her companions
looked at the fight in awe.

	"They're skills and strength are amazing." Rei watched slack-
jawed at both combatants as they fought to gain the advantage over the
other. The fight was close, but she thought the cute guy in the red
chinese shirt was slowly overpowering the guy with the bandanna.

	"Yeah..." Minako and Usagi drooled openly as the man of their
dreams fought in front of them with a grace and speed they had never
before seen.

*****
	
	"That's right, Ranma, hit him with all you've got!" Urd watched
the fight on her screen excitedly. She had other things to do, but they
could wait until Ranma had won. A good goddess knew how to get her
priorities straight, after all. During a lull in the fight, she briefly
wondered where Skuld was.

	'That's odd, she usually likes to watch the fights with me. 
Where could she be?'

	The thought quickly left her mind as she saw Ranma get another
punch through Ryoga's defense. "Go get him, Ranma!"

*****

	"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ryoga tried to block as many of
Ranma's punches as he could, but a lot of them still got through. 
Dazed from the attack, he never saw the flying kick Ranma launched at
him. He paid dearly for his mistake, flying ten feet through the air
and landing roughly on the street below. 

	'Now's my chance!' Ranma rushed at Ryoga to take advantage of
the vulnerable state his opponent was in. 


	"Wow, did you see that? They were _amazing_!" Rei turned 
excitedly to her friends, but got no response. Ami was still busy with
her computer, Minako and Usagi wore glassy eyed expressions on their
faces, and Makoto looked like she'd just seen a ghost. Setsuna looked
deep in thought. 	

	"Makoto-chan, are you okay? You don't look so good." Rei waved
a hand in front of Makoto, snapping her out of her daze.

	"Sempai... I have to help him!" 

	Makoto brushed Rei aside and started running towards the two
fighters.

	"Makoto, wait!" Makoto paid no heed to Rei's pleas and 
continued towards her destination. Rei shook her head at Makoto's
foolhardy move. Then, a thought hit her with the force of a freight
train.

	'Wait a minute, _sempai_?'

*****

	"This is it, all or nothing."

	Ranma once again jumped high into the air, charging up his ki
for a final attack that would hopefully end the match in his favor.

	'Now you die, Saotome'

	Using the desperation of his situation to fuel a huge amount
of depression ki, Ryoga charged up for his own final attack.

	"Mouko Takabisha!"

	"Shi Shi Hokodan!"

	The two attacks canceled each other out, exploding in a bright
flash of energy.

	After releasing his attack, Ranma twisted his body once more
and prepared to hit Ryoga with a flying kick to the head. At the same
time, Ryoga jumped into the air, his fist pointed towards the heavens
in an attack aimed for Ranma's stomach.

	The two fighters both hit their marks. Time seemed to stop as
they stared at each other, aware that this fight was now over. 

	Then they started falling.  

	"Sempai!" Makoto ran towards the two falling bodies. Ryoga hit
the ground hard, forming a crater upon impact. Ranma hadn't fared much
better. She quickly made her way towards Ryoga and shook him.

	"Sempai, are you okay?"

*****

	Urd was startled by the sound of the footsteps behind her. She
breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized the aura of the newcomer.

	"There you are, I was wondering how long it'd take you to get 
here. You're late, the fight's already over."

	"That's okay, I was just coming over to pick up a few things.
I'm answering a call for the GRH."

	"The Goddess Relief Hotline? But aren't you a debugger?" Urd
eyed her sister suspiciously.

	"It's just one case, a special assignment." Skuld finished
getting her things and left quickly.

	Urd raised a hand to her chin. "Special assignment huh? This 
bears investigation." 

	With quick but silent steps, she followed in the direction
Skuld had headed.

*****
	
	"Sempai, are you okay?"

	Ryoga felt himself roughly being shook. He opened his eyes and
saw the blurred image of a pretty brunette looking down on him with
a concerned her look in her eyes.

	'Damn it, Ranma! Now you've killed me and sent me to heaven! I
will never forgive you for this- Huh? Sempai?'

	Ryoga shook his head, focusing his eyes on the female holding 
his head up. She looked taller than most, and wore her long dark hair
in a ponytail.

	"Ma... Mako-chan?"

	Makoto smiled upon seeing that her old boyfriend of sorts was
safe. She brushed a lock of hair from his eyes.

	"Yes, sempai, it's me. Are you alright?"

	Ryoga felt excruciating pain in his whole body and had trouble
focusing his eyes. He also had a huge headache that made him feel like
someone was drilling a hole through his temples.

	"I'm fine."

	"Really? That's great!"

	Ryoga felt the pain in his head increase slightly as Makoto
dropped him unceremoniously and made her way over to where her friends
were trying their best to help Ranma.

	"Is he okay?" Makoto sat beside Minako as she cradled Ranma's
head in her lap. Rei was brushing dirt off his face and Usagi was 
standing to the side, a worried look on her face. Ami was running her
computer over his body and taking note of the readings it gave her.

	A few feet away, Ryoga seethed with jealousy.

	'Damn you Saotome! First Akane, now Mako-chan! Will there be no
end to the suffering I must endure because of you? I swear, I shall
never forgive you for this affront!' Ryoga's thoughts vanished as he
once again fell unconscious.

	Ranma woke up to the not so unfamiliar feeling of having his
head cradled in a girl's lap. He reflexively shot to his feet, then
staggered a little as he fell dizzy.

	"Don't move so much, you're hurt!"

	Ranma didn't recognize the blonde who gave him the warning. He
didn't remember ever seeing anyone with the same hairstyle as her, and
it wasn't a style he'd easily forget. He decided to play it cool.

	"Nah, I'm alright. I've taken worse hits before." He smiled at
her, hoping to convince her that he was okay.

	"But the fight!" 

	Ranma brushed off the comment of blonde wearing a bow and 
started straightening his clothes.

	"Don't worry about me, I do this all the time. I'm the best
martial artist in the world!"

	"Are you sure? You might have a concussion, or internal damage,
or..." Ranma cut off the short haired girl's comment.

	"I told you I'm fine. I'm _used_ to this sort of thing. You
girls, on the other hand, aren't. You shouldn't have run into the fight
like you did. You might have gotten hurt."			
		
	"Those were some great moves you used! What style do you 
practice?" Ranma beamed at the praise. 

	"I am Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Anything-Goes 
Martial Arts."

	The girl's eyes collectively glossed over as they took in the
magnificent sight that was Ranma Saotome. Ranma stood tall, basking in
the attention, until he heard bells ringing in the distance.

	"Sorry girls, gotta go!" Ranma vaulted to the roof of a nearby
house, and soon was gone from view.

	"He's such a hunk." Minako sighed as she remembered how he
looked when he smiled.

	"Yeah, he's so cool." Makoto remembered the ki blast he used
in the fight. Whoever he was, he was strong.

	"I'm confused over the readings I got from him. They indicate
that-"

	"That's enough of that. Follow me back to the ice cream parlor.
We need to talk about that boy." 

	"Setsuna? Where'd you go while the fight was going on? How'd 
you get here?" Rei replayed the past few minutes in her mind, but could
not place where Setsuna had gone.

	"That is unimportant. We must talk right now. It is a matter
of utmost importance."

	The five inner senshi knew better than to argue with Setsuna.
Glancing back towards the roof Ranma had disappeared to, they turned
and followed Setsuna back to the parlor. On the way, Usagi nearly 
tripped as she stepped on something.

	"Ack! It's the other guy from the fight! Do you know him, 
Mako-chan? You spoke to him earlier." 

	"Oh, he's my old sempai I was talking about." Makoto didn't
even stop to look at Ryoga as he lay on the street, his face marred by
Usagi's footprint.

	"Really? Aren't you going to try to get back together with
him?" Minako winked at Makoto, who just laughed.

	"I don't think so. I've already got my eye on someone." The
girls all sighed at the memory of Ranma's smile. They all stopped at 
the sound of Setsuna's voice.

	"If you are all finished with your daydreaming, I would like
to remind everyone that we are here for a reason. That reason will be
revealed as soon as we get to the parlor." Setsuna frowned when none
of the girls moved.

	"It's about that boy you just saw."

	All the inner senshi disappeared and Setsuna felt a gust of 
wind blow by her at the mention of Ranma's name. Shaking her head in
disgust, she calmly walked towards the ice cream parlor, stepping on
Ryoga in the process.

*****

	A few minutes later, Ryoga regained consciousness and found 
that his injuries had actually gotten worse.

	"I'll bet Ranma hit me while I was down, the coward."

	He moved to raise his head, but was stopped by a collision with
a rapidly moving vehicle.

	"Aiyah! Shampoo sure Airen was here a moment ago. Where Ranma
go?"

	Shampoo quickly rode off on her bike, leaving fresh tire tracks
on Ryoga's already battered face.


*****

	"It's just not fair!"

	Ukyo angrily flipped the okonomiyaki she was cooking, applying 
enough force to propel it straight into the ceiling. Ranma had come
by earlier today to eat. It had been just perfect. Ranma complimented
her cooking, and even noticed the message of love scribbled on it. She
had casually remarked that she would make a good wife because of her
cooking skills, and Ranma had agreed wholeheartedly!

	Well, actually, he just quickly nodded his head up and down 
while eating but it was practically the same thing. 

	Everything was going fine until Ryoga came along. He hadn't 
been in the restaurant for five seconds and they were already locked
in battle. Her perfect morning with Ranma, ruined by a directionally
challenged idiot.

	A drop of batter fell on her nose.

	Looking up at the remnants of her food, she sighed in defeat.
She'd had to close shop after Ranma and Ryoga left to clean up after
the fight. She was already too tired to cook her own food, but she
was hungry. Picking up a nearby phone, she dialed the number of the
local pizza place.

	"This is the Goddess Relief Hotline, I'll be with you in a
second."

	Ukyo blinked in confusion.

	"What? Isn't this Ataru's Pizza Place? Hello? Hello?" Ukyo
replaced the phone in its receiver.

	'It was probably a wrong number. A strange one too. Huh?' 
Ukyo's train of thought was derailed by a sound coming from inside her 
bathroom. Grabbing her battle spatula from her back, she approached
the door carefully. It opened suddenly and a small girl stepped out.
She had long dark hair and strange markings on her face. She had what
looked like a hammer strapped to her back. Her clothes were of a style
Ukyo had never seen before, and she was levitating a short distance
from the floor.

	"Hi, I am the goddess Skuld. I'm here to grant you a wish!"

End

*****

* if you must know, she was at the ladies room.

*****

Author's notes:

	This turned out to be longer than expected, and I still haven't
been able to squeeze everything I wanted into it. The thing Setsuna saw 
in the time gates will be revealed next chapter, I promise. I would 
like to thank Chester, Ash, and Vex for all of their help and 
suggestions.

	Many thanks to Ash for typing those scene separators.

	Please send C&C to ukyo_rulz@edsamail.com.ph