He couldn’t see anything, but the moment he smelled the
fish sausages wrapped tightly around his body, and could hear his
own breathing echoing in his ears, he knew where he was. The
yellow eyes were all around him, circling around him, each trying
to steal a glance at the delicious meal before them.

They didn’t attack though, like they always had before.
Instead, they circled him, mewing and growling.

‘This isn’t how it happened,’ Ranma thought,‘Why aren’t
they attacking? They should be all over me! What’s going on?!’

He whimpered, huddling into a ball and shutting his eyes,
waiting. He waited for the hisses, the teeth, and the claws to rip
through his skin. ‘Any second now,’ he thought, ‘they’re going to jump me.’

But they didn’t. They just circled him, growling low,
sniffing eagerly. Still, nothing happened, but Ranma remained
curled, eyes shut, knowing that once he opened them, they would
attack.

“Open your eyes, child,” a monotonous voice said.

Ranma stopped all motion, holding his breath. This never
happened before. What the hell was going on?

“Open your eyes, Child!” the voice snapped, and he felt
breath against his face.

Hesitantly, Ranma opened his eyes, and immediately
gazed into the eyes of a cat three times as big as the others. His
body convulsed in fear. ‘So this is why they aren’t attacking!
They’re letting this big one have me all to itself!’

“Child, do you not realize that the cats have already
massacred your body? I have no desire to attack you.”

His body stung all over. When had he been attacked? A
second ago he had been covered in the fish sausage, and now he
was completely cut up. He shuddered in pain. The cuts were
everywhere, he could feel them on his body, forever marking it,
and his mind.

“How-” he croaked.

The large cat tilted its head. “I am no ordinary cat, Child.”
The voice didn’t come from the animal’s mouth, but it was still
clear that the beast was the one talking.“I am a demon. A very
powerful demon. . . I sensed your soul’s struggle to survive and I .
. . am . . . impressed.”

“What. . . what d-does that m-mean?” Ranma asked,
suddenly feeling exhausted.

“I plan to take your soul to hell,” the large feline replied,
and spared a glance at the cats surrounding the two, it’s cat mouth
baring his fangs as if grinning.

---

Disclaimer: I don’t own Ranma ½, if I did... would I be writing
this? Maybe.

“I’ve always had nightmares of that day, and that pit.
Nightmares on and off throughout the year, waking up in that cold
sweat. . . my heart beatin’ like crazy. I was always so grateful
when I woke up, knowing the dream was only that. . . a dream. . .
but for once. . . I wish I hadn’t woken up.”
- Ranma Saotome

Demons Candelabrum
A Ranma ½ Crossover
By Hawk

AN: Thanks to Fallacy, and Corwin once again for prereading
this. Without them, this fic would be. . . Not as good,
grammatically, visually. . . mathematically. . . For those of you
curious about what’s gonna be the Crossover, I’m not letting it out
just right now, you’ll find out along the way. This story takes place
after the failed wedding.

---

Prologue - Nightmares

“I-I d-don’t wanna!” Ranma shouted and started to cry.
His small, ten year old body shook violently. “W-why? Pl-please!
I-I don’t wa-wanna g-g-go!” His tears grew stronger, and snot
dripped out his nose.

The demon cat leaned forward and licked the tears from
Ranma’s face. If Ranma could read the demons catlike
expression, he would have realized it was relishing the salty taste.
The demon in the guise of a cat began to purr.

“Your anguish is delicious,” it murmured, still purring.
The demon cat began circling him. “Mmm. . . instead of taking
your soul, I’ll save it, and in the process, your life. How does that sound?”

Ranma swallowed the bile in his throat, and said nothing.
He waited for the demon to continue.

“Look at me, Child.”

Slowly, Ranma looked up at the cat, seeing it clearly for
the first time. It was all black; that was why Ranma could see only
its red eyes and the three half-circles that marked its forehead.

“Do you want to live, Child?”

“Y-yes. . .” Ranma mumbled, nodding his head cautiously.

“Then stretch out your left arm for me,” the demon cat
ordered.

Ranma hesitated, cradling his arm against his chest
protectively.

“Stretch out your left arm!” the cat hissed, eyes narrowing
in the darkness.

Instinctively, and out of fear, Ranma’s arm outstretched
seemingly on its own. He cringed and twitched, closing his eyes.
Tears poured down his face and he trembled, afraid of what the
cat would do.

The cat hacked violently, producing a disgusting, throaty
sound.

Ranma’s eyes cracked up and he looked at the cat as it
coughed over his arm. Was it hacking up a hairball on him?
Something was slowly slipping out of the feline’s mouth -- a small
worm-like creature, pale colored like a bone. He flinched as it
dropped onto his arm, cold against his skin.

And then, there was pain. It was worse than that of the
cats tearing into his flesh. He screamed, eyes wide, as the worm
dug its way into his arm, through his flesh. His body seized in
shock, the life in his blue eyes dimming slightly as he stared blankly
through his unruly, black hair. His voice all but died out, and was
now just a pitiful whisper.

The cat demon began to speak again. “Because I am not
takin-”

His body tensed, and then he sat up, screaming and
clutching his left arm, a cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

A wooden sign smacked into his head, halting his screaming.

‘Shut up, boy! Some of us are trying to sleep!’ the sign
read.

“Argh! Stupid, Oyaji! What ya do that for!” Ranma
exclaimed, rubbing the side of his head.

‘I need my beauty sleep!’ was written on the back of the
sign.

Ranma snorted. “All the beauty sleep in the world couldn’t
help you, Pop.”

The large panda was already asleep, again.

Ranma shook his head. “Man, what a weird dream.” He
shuddered and looked at his left arm, holding it with his right.
Rubbing his eyes, he pushed himself out of his futon and slowly
trudged downstairs.

He walked into the kitchen, intending to get a glass of
water, but stopped when he noticed Kasumi already cooking
breakfast. Blinking, Ranma tilted his head and observed Kasumi in
silence as she went about her morning routine.

‘It’s like her own personal kata. A breakfast kata,’
Ranma thought, slightly amused by his thinking.

Ranma’s eyes narrowed, and began to glow without him
realizing it. A darkness tainted the space around his body, and
spread outward across the room as if to encompass Kasumi.

Kasumi turned around. “Oh!” She jumped, placing a hand
over her heart. “Ranma, you startled me!” she chided, but was
smiling none the less. Her smile vanished when she noticed
Ranma’s glowing eyes, and the darkness swelling around him.

Ranma said nothing, instead choosing to just stare a Kasumi.
There was something different about her this morning that he
had never noticed before. A small white aura surrounding her
body, and slowly growing larger by the second. Soon enough
it around her was enormous, forcing him to squint his eyes.

‘Im-impossible! This is insane! Kasumi can’t be THIS
powerful! Noone human can be this powerful!’ Ranma thought,
starting to feel slightly overwhelmed. His knees buckled. ‘Her aura
is so pure!’

Kasumi stood still, watching Ranma closely. She knew he
could see the aura she was projecting, but doubted he knew of his
own. It wasn’t as large as hers, but the red aura encasing his body
was still very powerful.

The two auras began pressing against each other roughly,
wrestling for supremacy. The auras grew wilder in their fight
against one another, so much so that the pots, pans and anything
else not nailed down began to tremble.

‘This is intense,’ Ranma thought, heart beating wildly in his
chest. He opened his mouth intending to say something.

Akane walked into the kitchen, right into Ranma’s
invisible, raging aura and blinked. “Whoa! It’s hot in here!” she
exclaimed.

Neither Ranma nor Kasumi paid her any heed, focusing
instead only upon one another.

She frowned, and waved a hand in front of Ranma’s face,
catching his attention. “Hey, you wanna go jog with me?” she
asked. ‘Why’s he staring at her like that?’

“Oh, uh, yeah sure, yeah, lets go,” Ranma replied,
scratching the back of his head. He turned around and followed
Akane out of the kitchen, but not before stealing another glance at
Kasumi.

The brown haired girl was back at the stove, no visible
aura around her, acting as if nothing had interrupted her morning
breakfast kata.

---

Next Time:
Chapter 1 - Visions of the End
Ranma’s starting to see things that other people aren’t. A world in
ruin, a sky of blood red, and a sun of pure white. But what does it
all mean?

AN: Hope this was enjoyable, and I hope I can get the next
chapter done as fast as I wrote up this one. R&R to