A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction

By Dmitri 'Ranshin' Antonov 

Life is a Flashback

Prologue to the Wanderers saga

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War never changes. We spill the blood of others, and others spill our own blood. 
It has never been any different. 
Never has war changed nor will it ever change. No matter what happens, war stays 
the same. How I know this you may 
ask me. I will answer like I always have. I've been there, I've felled with my 
weapon. Be it my sword, my rifle, 
my fist, my bolter, my magic, my spirit, my mind, my heart or my words. Me and 
my weapons have killed many of our 
enemies. 

I trust in my weapons, I always have and always will do. But your weapon is not 
all it takes to defeat your enemies. 
You must have trust, courage, wisdom, frienship and love. You must never let go 
of your emotions. Never must you 
think that emotions are weak, because they are what make us human. We were 
created as one of the living creatures 
that can feel. If we reject our own emotions, we do nothing but abandon our 
soul. 

You must remember why you live, you must know that you were not given this life 
so it could be forfeit. You alone 
have control over your life, you alone control your destiny. Do not let fate 
rule your life or it shall forever 
be controlled by something else than yourself. That is the greatest injury that 
the human spirit can take. 

Remember to always be strong no matter what happens. Remember the honor and 
glory of humans and our allies. 
Do not let your mind falter. Be always on the ready. Remember my lessons well, 
as they may well save your life 
sometime in the future, who knows. 

Do not make the same same mistakes I did in my young life. When I was but a 
youth I made many mistakes. Mistakes 
that almost meant my loved ones' deaths. Even as I grew older in mind, spirit 
and soul I made mistakes. I have aged 
many years, even though I look to be but a sixteen year old boy. I shall never 
forget how all of this started. 
But maybe that is a story for another time. 

Remember to always go by the rules of life and survival. Try to live and 
honorable life yet do not let honor overtake 
you, like it did with me once when I was but a lad. I don't know when I started 
to speak like this. Like and gray, 
wrinkled old man. I suppose all these years have paid off. Rememeber what I 
taught you, what I and my greatest friend
have brought you. Use those lessons well, for piece, not for power. 

Heh, never though I would talk like an old man. But that's okay. People that 
know me know how old I actually am. In 
other words, an old man. I must leave now. I doubt I will write any more in this 
old book. This book is filled with memories.
Some days in my life I just want to flap all the way back to the first page and 
read the whole book through from the 
start. But then I think, what's stopping me? After all life is a flashback.

Last page of the life of Ranma 'The Wild Horse' Saotome