Behind a somewhat large hill walked the two old Amazonian friends, "I still can't believe we're desperate enough to ask the Musk if they've seen that fake woman..." Shampoo muttered in disgust, her arms crossed over her chest as she was followed closely by Mousse, who had been made to carry their supplies while they made their way through Musk territory.
"I was hoping we wouldn't end up here but this Ranma guy sure is a pain..." Mousse complained as he sighed and lowered his head, reaching up he took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"How do you think I feel? I may have to marry this man..."
"Shampoo, most girls in the village like marrying strong foreigners, and to think you're not like that, especially given who you're related to..." Mousse questioned but lost confidence halfway through as he wasn't sure if he was being subtle enough to convey his message.
"W-Well it's different when you've been so..." Shampoo stuttered while they walked, looking back at Mousse but since she had kept her eyes on the road she hadn't noticed Mousse take off his glasses and was surprised to be greeted by Mousse's naturally dashing good looks; whenever his glasses were off.
"I've been so what...?" Mousse asked turning to the opposite of where Shampoo had been looking at when he spoke.
Looking back at Mousse she saw that he was looking in the wrong direction, no longer feeling weak enough to be vulnerable to his charms, she corrected. "Nothing! We should find-" she muttered as her eyes appeared to be following something to the corner of her eyes: a woman with red hair covering herself with a hood before running off!
"The Musk?" Mousse questioned before quickly putting his glasses back on as he heard Shampoo running in a different direction than where they had been walking.
"It's that fake woman again!" Shampoo declared with a spite-filled tone and gritted teeth, sprinting towards the girl in the cloak.
…
Taking to the roads once more the rogue feline Musk member made sure that there would be no surprises as she found her eyes darting from left to right, taking advantage of any tree she would happen upon by using it as cover.
"I can't believe I lost it!" she muttered begrudgingly to herself. She thought about the valuable treasure she stole from the Musk Dynasty and couldn't help but shake her head, 'No... I have to find that ring...' she thought, no longer uncertain but driven to right her wrong.
She hummed gravely and nodded her head, she then sprinted as quickly as she could only to sniff the air while either running around the trees or jumping over overgrown roots she would constantly have to avoid. It was only until a large ball like weapon collided with the ground in front of her that she stopped.
"Nya!?" she screamed as she flinched, jumping back with her forearm over her chest before dropping her composure as the unexpected attack startled her to the point she almost froze.
Suddenly, Shampoo propelled herself off the trunk of a tree, a second Chui poised over her head and ready to strike as she descended downwards in a deadly arc, aiming to take down her foe with one single hit.
Jumping back in the nick of time, the redhead's hood flew back as her head jerked around so quickly that it caused her hood to fall back and down to her shoulders, revealing her long and shiny scarlet hair. "Who dares…?"
"There's no escaping this time!" Mousse's hurried voice echoed as he jumped from branch to branch as he brought his sleeves forth and let a rain of daggers fly, following them with some iron balls, hoping this dangerous combination of weapons would incapacitate the evasive redhead.
Shampoo was so eager to capture her prey she actually miscalculated and landed poorly, lifting a small amount of forest dirt to her face. It was enough to make Shampoo shake her head off like a lion stepping out of a lake and then growling in annoyance to see that what she had found was not the redhead they were after but a strange woman with feline-like amber eyes and similarly colored hair. "Who are-"
"Are you crazy?" Shouted the Musk woman as she swiftly picked up Shampoo's Chui, which she swung at the iron balls and daggers falling towards her, she moved so fast she managed to hit them all, causing the daggers to fly off and hit a tree, she also managed to deflect the iron balls away, even bouncing one of them high into the air. Her surprising display of skill completed, the girl tossed the mace away, but remained very much on guard, still surprised by the ambush.
"Huh!?" Mousse paused mid-air before landing on the next branch but the moment he did one of his iron balls crashed into his face, it flew in with such speed that his glasses shattered.
Shampoo looked to her right and saw Mousse losing his balance and falling from a tree, all throughout his descent he dug through his sleeves, clearly looking for another pair of glasses. "Mousse!" she exclaimed but saw that her friend was only able to retrieve his bottle goggles right as he hit the ground.
"I'm... alright..." Mousse muttered, pausing between words to groan in pain.
"Stay back! If you're trying to rob me, I-" spoke the woman in her native Chinese tongue, backing up like a scared housecat, her sharp claws now fully extended.
The lavender colored beauty rushed over to her fallen companion and took the glasses from his hand, swapping them with the broken ones on his face, immediately helping him come to a stand right after. "We're sorry for attacking you but I saw your red hair and I thought I had found someone else…"
"My red hair...?" she paused to question as she blinked, only slightly dropping her guard.
"We have no business with you so either leave or prepare for a fight..." Shampoo stated as she then looked over to the catgirl.
To this, the female Musk could only blink in confusion and tilt her head to one side.
"You do look pretty suspicious with that hood on," Shampoo warned. "So don't give me any ideas..." Shampoo added, narrowing her eyes.
"Shampoo... did we find her?" Mousse asked, a low groaning pain laced in his words.
"Are you two looking for a redhead...?" the Musk girl asked sounding just as stern as her attackers.
"Yes, we are, so what?" Shampoo replied, her tone mirroring that.
"I'm looking for a redhead, too. So if we have the same goal then maybe we can help one another...?" the girl muttered while she reached back up and pulled up her hood to once again cover her head.
"W-what did you have in mind...?" Mousse asked as he sat up a little, his purple-haired friend supporting him. "Working together? We don't even know who you are!"
"True..." the cat-girl admitted, she put her hands on her hips as if thinking, but then she respectfully bowed, "I'm Chervil, nice to meet you."
"I'm Shampoo and this here is my friend, Mousse..." Shampoo introduced them as she gently leaned forward to bow while holding Mousse.
"You're both amazons, aren't you?" Chervil commented as she leaned back. "This other redhead you're after must be important if she has business with you lot..."
Shampoo's eyes never stopped following Chervil's movements, recalling the speed and precision she used to deflect Mousse's assault was more than enough reason for her to stay wary of this feline looking girl. "What does it matter to you...?"
"That girl has a very important ring that I need back..." the auburn-haired lioness sighed, her eyes drooping as she looked to the ground. "It belongs to the Musk Royals, and I was supposed to keep it safe, but I think that that other redhead has it now."
"A royal ring from the Musk?" Mousse asked as he groaned, moving from Shampoo's side and sitting with his legs crossed.
"So you're Musk Royalty," Shampoo quirked a brow. "Why are you here alone, then...?" she asked, clearly confused by this point.
"I'm not a member of the Musk Royalty yet. I… I just haven't been able to make it official, as of late..." Chervil answered somewhat timidly as she brought a hand up to scratch behind her ear.
Mousse adjusted his glasses and noticed Shampoo's eyes narrowing and her lips pursing. He saw her putting her hand to her chin, looking away before bringing her eyes back to Chervil, letting her hand drop back to her lap when she noticed their former prey looking back to her and Mousse.
"My sense of smell is really good," Chervil explained as she looked out in the direction she had been following before. "I have that redhead's scent but she's been difficult to track down… but if you're also looking for her, then maybe the three of us could…"
"So you're saying we can work together?" Shampoo asked.
"Like sharing information?" Mousse wanted to know.
"Of course!" she smiled and nodded her head. "If you find anything out about her you let me know and I'll make sure you're rewarded by the Musk!"
"And if you find that redhead, bring her to the Amazons and we'll make sure you're compensated too," Shampoo spoke plainly and very business-like, although she smiled near the end. "Do we have a deal, then?"
"Sure, that sounds good, I'll keep looking for my ring and the redhead you're after!" Chervil nodded and shook the other girl's extended hand. Then she began running as she spoke, her voice becoming fainter the further she went. "If I find her I'll make sure you are the first to know!"
"We didn't tell her how to find us," Mousse lamented. "Oh well, too late now."
----------------------------------------
Later…
Sitting on the side of the road, Mousse removed his oversized glasses and touched the nasty lump on his head and grimaced a little. He recalled their brief scuffle with the Musk girl and frowned as he grudgingly admitted he had gotten careless. And that girl had been fast; faster than Shampoo and almost as fast as he was.
'This is why we always avoid the Musk; they're not fully human,' Mousse thought, recalling his great-grandmother's tales of the fearsome power the Musk clan possessed. 'They're more trouble than they're worth, same as the people from Mount Phoenix.'
"Are you alright?" Shampoo asked hoping the tone of concern in her voice was not evident. She was standing to his right, leaning on a tree to escape the biting sun. "You said you wanted to rest a little, but we should really start moving again."
"Yeah, I'm fine now, and I agree… the sooner we get out of Musk territory, the better," he said while putting his glasses back on. "Still, what that girl told us… I didn't like it much."
"What part?"
"She's a royal from the Musk Dynasty," Mousse said. "I don't trust her, Shampoo. The Musk respect only one thing and that is... strength. If she believes we're beneath her she may decide to ignore our deal and do as she pleases."
"She didn't seem that voluble," Shampoo indicated. "I trust she'll go to Joketsuzoku to tell us if she sees Ranma."
"Maybe, but I was able to sense her ki and I'm sure it felt cat-like… that's not good for us; the cat clans are not exactly used to make deals with people, they simply take what they want," Mousse explained gravely. "This could end up being a huge waste of time at best or put us in a collision course with her family at worse… look, I'm not sure if Chevril is from the tiger or lion clan but both of them are really bad news; we'll have to be careful or we could be in deep trouble, Shampoo."
"Well, going by her eyes she did look like one of the cat clans… you actually do seem to know a lot about the Musk Dynasty," the young Amazon observed, slightly surprised by the information Mousse was sharing. She was familiar with the Musk, of course, but Mousse's knowledge of the evasive animal people was clearly above hers. "How come you know all that?"
"My great-grandmother told me a lot about them and about the bird people from Phoenix Mountain when I was a little boy," he said after a moment of hesitation.
"Oh, yes, her…" Shampoo lowered her eyes, remembering they were not supposed to talk about the woman. Mousse's great-grandmother had vanished from Joketsuzoku for an undisclosed matter, and that meant nobody was allowed to talk about her; when an Amazon was expelled, she was not just gone from the Amazon village; she was erased to the point even mentioning her name in conversation was prohibited. "I guess she would know; she was a member of the elder council, after all… surprising, since elders are sworn to keep many things secret."
Mousse didn't answer Shampoo's comment; he frowned instead and slowly got up, focusing on scanning his surroundings. His ki detecting skills were not yet perfect by any means, but he had improved them substantially during this trip and he was now completely certain there were two strong signatures somewhere around them. Their owners were doing their best to keep them hidden from detection, meaning he couldn't tell exactly where they were, but they were close. Disturbingly close.
"Something wrong?" the blue-haired beauty asked, looking left and right once she noticed how alarmed Mousse was.
"Someone's watching us," he said in a low voice. "They're very good at hiding since I can't hear them move no matter how much I try … but I can feel their ki. Problem is they're keeping it suppressed to the point I can't tell where they are."
"Let's get moving, then," she suggested while picking up her backpack. "If they're bandits we can leave them behind fast enough or fight them if it comes to that."
"Their ki's too strong for them to be just thieves, it feels… odd," Mousse said, still facing the woods to his right. "It's like…"
But Mousse couldn't finish his sentence, a small shadow dashed towards him from behind the trees so quickly that all he could do was to swiftly produce an iron baton from under his left sleeve to parry a blow from a long sword.
"Congratulations! You managed to block my sword!" A boy of around thirteen said with a wolfish smile. "I didn't think a normal human could react that fast!"
"Shampoo, this kid's from the Musk!" Mousse shouted while struggling to dodge or parry the barrage of sword swings aimed at his legs and torso. "Get out of here!"
"Amazons don't flee from battle, you idiot!" Shampoo shouted and prepared to assist her friend, but before she could do anything a tall shadow emerged from the forest with an amazing leap, landing right behind her.
"You two are coming with us!" Lime shouted and brought his arms forward, trapping Shampoo in an iron-like hold. The tiger boy then noticed who he was restraining and couldn't help but grin mischievously. "Hey, Mint…? Am I holding a woman?"
"Yeah, you are… and she's very pretty!" Mint said as he dodged a punch Mousse threw in his direction with incredible nimbleness. "I'm sure Lord Herb will let us take her on a date after he talks to her!"
"Does she have big breasts?" Lime asked, his face turning a bit red. He was so busy envisioning his future date with this girl he didn't even feel her attempts at getting free.
"I can't tell with your arms blocking her chest, Lime. But maybe she does!" the wolf kid guessed excitedly, stopping for a moment. "You've gotta let me see them when we take her on a date!"
Stopping to ask for a chance to see Shampoo's breasts, however, turned out to be a mistake.
"You leave her alone!" Mousse shouted, using this chance to punch Mint in the back of his head hard enough to send him bouncing several meters down the road. "And you, Lime or whatever your name is, release my Shampoo!"
"I'm not your Shampoo!" the lavender-haired beauty corrected, flushing after hearing Mousse's words, and feeling strangely alarmed at the fact she was not angry at what he said.
Lime for his part was at first a bit amused by seeing Mint getting punched into the ground, and for a second considered fighting this strange looking long-haired boy, but in the end, he didn't have to. One glance revealed that Mint was back up again, rubbing the side of his head. The tiger man grinned, preparing to watch the show.
"So, you're not taking me seriously now? I'll show you what it means to challenge a…" Mousse couldn't finish his sentence, for a blur of gray and brown circled around him so fast he had no time to react as he quickly found himself on the ground bound tightly from the ankles up to his shoulders with a thick rope.
"Be glad I didn't take your head," Mint said, standing above Mousse. "Our orders are to take you both in for questioning… but give us a reason and we'll only take your woman. Do you understand?"
Still unable to process how fast this kid was, and knowing any further attempts at fighting would only get Shampoo hurt, Mousse could only nod.
…
The audience chamber in the Musk Royal palace was certainly something to see. Spacious and decorated with many antiquities that put most of the treasures gathered by the Amazons over the centuries to shame, this large room was one of the dynasty's points of pride, and it was here were Mousse and Shampoo had been bound to chairs so tightly none of them could do anything to escape.
"Why do you think they brought us here?" Shampoo wondered, keeping busy looking at some of the ancient artifacts in the room, "do you think they'll torture us?"
"The Musk Dynasty doesn't normally resort to that," Mousse said as he focused on trying to think of a way to escape the situation. "But that's because people normally fear them too much for it to be necessary."
"I've learned why," Shampoo muttered then, recalling with cold dread how strong the tiger man they called Lime was. She hated this display of weakness as she knew that Mousse could hear her, but she didn't care; she had never met someone so powerful, and the mere idea of facing Lime again and this time actually fighting him filled her heart with terror.
She then noticed Mousse was paralyzed, an expression of utter panic crossing his face.
"What's going on, do you feel something?"
"I should have kept practicing that ki detecting technique…" Mousse said after swallowing his fear. "If I hadn't I wouldn't be sensing this right now… someone's coming here, a man… and he… I don't know who he could be, but this much power… only the Dragon Clan could have it. The Musk King must be coming here!"
"The Prince, actually," a young man, not older than twenty, said as he opened the door in front of the two Joketsuzoku teenagers. "I am Prince Herb, heir to the Musk throne, and I would have words with you both."
"Release us first," Shampoo requested sourly, but quickly added when she saw the way Herb's right eyebrow moved. "I mean… if you may let us go… please?"
"We may free you," another man, an old one with a wise, yet wolfish appearance said as he entered the chamber. "But how quickly we do that depends entirely on what you tell us."
"I don't think they're from the nearby town or any of the farms," Herb observed. "Sumac, what can you tell me about these two?"
"They smell like… people from the Amazon village," the old man said as he sniffed the air.
"Are you sure?" the Dragon Prince asked.
"I am sure. The Amazons have a very particular smell, one that is not easily forgotten."
"So, what were you doing in Musk territory?" Herb asked.
"We are looking for someone," Mousse said, "a fugitive who caused a lot of trouble for us."
"I see; tell me about this fugitive of yours," Herb requested. "He must be very important to the Amazons if you risked coming here without sending a message through our agreed methods first."
"We don't know what our agreed methods are," Shampoo said. "But I can tell you about the fugitive, she…"
…
"…And that's all, we've been trying to find her since then," Shampoo concluded. She had told Herb about how Ranma escaped the Amazon village, but left out their encounter with Chevril, thinking she could use that bit of information to bargain their release if it was necessary.
She was lucky that Mousse, who had remained silent as she spoke, apparently understood what she was planning.
"The girl they're looking for is clearly not the one we want," Sumac said then. "This was a waste of time… or maybe not, we can always marry this young woman to one of our own. Lime did seem quite interested in her. The boy we can dispose of, he's too weak to be of any use to the clan."
"What?" Mousse said, "Dispose of me, are you joking?"
"Of course we aren't," the Royal advisor stated without bothering to explain further.
"Wait, you can't just kill me, that's…!" Mousse started, fear evident in his voice as he strained to escape his bounds, only to find whatever type of rope the Musk used, it was too much for him.
Shampoo, despite her mind telling her she should not care about Mousse's fate, could only pale in fear; the young Amazon was so shocked by the threat made to her friend's life that she even forgot what the old man had decided for her. What they wanted to do with them both, but particularly Mousse was incredibly unfair!
Despite herself, images of Mousse helping her during the trip all around the province resurfaced in her mind, and the memories of the few times they had played together as children. She realized she actually cherished all these moments, and that if they took him away then… then she and Mousse could not make any new memories together.
Thinking of all this helped her realize that it was not wrong to worry about Mousse and that the Musk nobles had no right to hurt him, no right at all!
"Tell us about that girl you want!" Shampoo said, frantically trying to find something to stall the Prince and his advisor from hurting her friend. "We've been traveling all over the region, we may have seen her!"
"Hm… she does have a point, Sumac," Herb said thoughtfully. "Very well, have you met another redhead, about the same age as the one you're chasing, probably wearing a cape and keeping her face mostly hidden under a hood?"
"Another redhead? Yes, yes we have! We met her this morning!" Shampoo revealed. "She said her name's Chevril."
"And you didn't tell us this because?" Sumac asked, annoyed.
"You didn't ask," the Amazon countered, a bit of her old self-confidence returning.
"What did she tell you?" Herb pressed, ignoring his advisor's rant. It was obvious the Prince's main priority was finding Chevril. "Did she mention where she was going?"
"No. But she did say something that may be important," Shampoo recalled.
"Well, then tell us!" Herb demanded, his strong ki warming the air in the room as he spoke.
Shampoo had to swallow her fear at the power Herb radiated, and a glance to her side revealed that Mousse, who was far more sensitive to ki than her, was livid.
"I will if you promise that you'll let both of us go," the girl requested.
"You dare bargain with the Prince?" Sumac growled, baring his sharp fangs. "How can you?"
Grinning, Herb lifted a hand to silence the old wolfman. "You have some spirit, girl, I respect that. Very well, tell me what Chevril said and I promise I'll let you and your friend leave."
"She said she was looking for a special ring, a ring that belonged to the Musk royals."
"Does that mean she… she lost it?" Herb growled in rage. "She steals my ring and then she drops it somewhere? I can't believe this!"
"Someone else has the Royal Ring," Mousse said then, forcing himself to take over for Shampoo who was now so intimidated by Herb's aura that she didn't seem to have the strength to talk anymore.
"Who?" the Prince asked, his attention now set on Mousse.
"The girl we're looking for; Chevril told us she probably had it."
"This is incredible…" Herb groaned and wondered if he would ever see his royal heirloom again. This development was simply just too ridiculous to be true! Was fate mocking him for something?
"We don't need the Amazons getting involved in this," Sumac said then.
"No, on the contrary," Herb told him after considering the situation for an instant. "This is their fault; they do need to get involved!"
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"What do you mean this is our fault?" Both Mousse and Shampoo asked.
"If your redhead hadn't escaped your village, she wouldn't have taken my ring," Herb started, pacing around the room in order to regain his wits and not exactly managing it, he really was that upset, for without the ring he could never ascend to the throne. "We would have managed to capture Chevril sooner or later, but because of your incompetence… the Musk Royal Ring may be lost forever!"
The two bound teens spared a glance at each other; neither of them liked the turn things had taken; at all.
"Very well, it is decided," Herb said with a cold voice. "The Amazons have one month from now to recapture that thief and to recover my ring… if they don't, I will hold the whole village responsible by association, and as punishment… the Musk Dynasty will raze Joketsuzoku to the ground! Now release these two, Sumac, let them go back to their village so they can tell the Amazon elders of my decision!"
His commands given, Herb walked out of the audience chamber, leaving Sumac to deal with Mousse and Shampoo.
"That… that was actually excessive even for him; the Prince must really be furious," the old man said, his voice actually a bit regretful. "But his orders are absolute. I'll summon some guards to escort you out of the castle; I suggest you return to Joketsuzoku as fast as you can."
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile, far from the Musk palace…
Ranko sat in silent contemplation, still digesting what Ryoga had just told her. Did she find it difficult to believe, acting like a cat? She didn't remember anything about it! Still, the way he related the events and the confirmations offered by Lotion all confirmed that this was not a joke. She had indeed turned into a feral cat and attacked them.
Well, she had only attacked the old crone, but the fact was she could have tried to go after Ryoga too. She didn't like the idea at all, or how this meant that she had now yet another problem to add to her list, so she instead focused on the fact that she somehow was skilled enough in 'cat mode' to match Lotion, as she considered that to be the only positive.
"So, how… what is this technique called?" She asked with a sigh, deciding she should at least try to learn as much as she could about it to prevent it from happening again.
"Neko Ken. A forbidden technique due to the mental strain it causes on the person who tries to learn it. Do you know who taught it to you?" Lotion said with a serious tone. "That person committed a serious crime… The Neko Ken training may even be the cause of your amnesia."
Ranko shook her head, gritting her teeth in anger. "No… I don't know, I can't remember. But I wish I could… so I could go and kick their butt for doing this to me!"
"They would be thrown to jail anywhere in the region," Lotion said. "I certainly hope your parents aren't responsible for this."
"I'm sure they aren't!" Ryoga offered, hoping this would help Ranko feel a little better.
"I hope so, too," she sighed, hoping none of her parents had forced her to learn a technique so dangerous.
"Well, I'll just have to be careful to keep my cat out of your way," the old woman said. "We can't have you go into Neko Ken state again. You could get lost and end up in a bad place."
"I guess that's a possibility," Ranko agreed. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," Lotion said, jumping off her chair and walking out of the living room. "I have something to do, children. You two wait here, I'll be back in a moment."
Saying nothing more, the ancient Amazon walked out of the living room.
…
"You don't look happy," Ryoga observed, leaning forward on his seat so he could better look at Ranko, who was sitting on the old two-seat sofa in front of him. "I imagine this is difficult, do you want to talk about it?"
"Life hates me," she declared, lowering her face to hide her sadness. "I have amnesia, a stupid allergy to hot water and now this… this Neko Ken thing!"
"Ranko… It'll be alright, you're not alone. I'm here for you… do you want to talk about this?"
"I don't feel like talking, okay!" Ranko snapped for a second, sounding genuinely upset and turning the other way to avoid looking at him. "What is there to talk about anyway...? Do you want me to tell you how much of a freak I am? Well, I am a freak, Ryoga! Are ya' happy now?"
Ryoga recoiled as if she had slapped him. Listening to the despair in her voice was enough to fill him with anguish, and a strong desire to help her feel better invaded him. Because it was not fair that Ranko had to suffer, it simply wasn't! And the reason he felt this way was simple, for better or worse, even before the single kiss she gave him when she was stuck acting like a cat, he had started to care deeply for her. He even felt he could really love her soon, and while that scared him a little, making sure she was alright was far more important.
"That's not the only thing bothering you. And you know I don't care about it; hell, I am weird enough already, remember?" He said, trying to sound as calm and reassuring as possible. "Look, to me you're a normal girl, Ranko. Just remember that your amnesia and allergy to water will be cured soon, and Lotion may be able to block that Neko Ken thing somehow, so, please… tell me what's bothering you. It's alright, you can trust me."
"Can I really?" she asked, still not turning to see him. Her shoulders trembled a little then; there was something else worrying her, something that made her feel close to tears, and she was not sure if Ryoga could understand if she told him.
"Yes, completely," he assured her. "I would never betray you, or laugh at you, please talk to me."
"But… it's… I'm sorry, I can't…" Ranko slumped again. She had turned to look at him but found that she could not say what was torturing her. It was simply too difficult to admit that what had troubled her so much was the realization that perhaps her parents were not as she had so far imagined them; that maybe, just maybe, her father and mother had forced her to learn the Neko Ken without any concern to her wellbeing, perhaps just using her for their own ends, maybe against the Amazons who were so angry at her. The idea that her parents could have caused her amnesia, and then abandon her when she was no longer useful for them had struck her hard, and she just didn't feel strong enough to discard the thought because… wasn't she lost and didn't' the Amazons hate her? And what could she do if her parents were indeed responsible for all the tragedies she had suffered? What would she do if that were true?
"Hey, it's ok…" He told her then, going to sit next to her when he saw her sink deeper into despair. He hated seeing Ranko like this, so vulnerable and defeated. He couldn't understand what had her so mortified, but he couldn't see her like this anymore. Taking a deep breath and hoping this was fine and that his nose didn't start acting up, Ryoga brought his arms around her, enveloping her in a soft, warm hug he hoped would finally comfort her. "I'm sorry for insisting. If you don't want to talk about it then that's fine, but remember that you're not alone anymore..."
Ryoga sounded as though he were near the verge of crying himself but fought well enough to keep himself focused, he needed to be, for her, "You've got me, Ranko… you can always have me..."
"…Ryoga," she whispered, surprised and tense at the feeling of his arms around her. This contact… the way he embraced her, his kind words… he made her feel… protected, safe, shielded from all worries, from all pain. She could not understand this, but little by little she relaxed and decided that was not important; because in his arms, she was safe. She was safe, and that was all that mattered to her. "Why are you doing this… do you really… do you care?"
Ranko blinked and seemed to be partially lost in thought waiting for his answer, her cheeks beginning to resemble the color of her vibrantly red locks.
"Yes, Ranko; I care for you," Ryoga admitted with a whisper, exhaling through his nose and sounding pleasantly surprised while keeping her close to his chest, feeling glad that she was accepting his efforts to help her. "I really do..."
She could only look up at his face, focusing on his eyes, seeing in them nothing but a real, honest desire to help and deep concern for her. She was certain then that his words were true. He cared. He really cared. This revelation made her remember what happened between them the day before when she realized that she wouldn't mind if he kissed her. At that time she had already understood that Ryoga was very reliable and that he had helped her more than anyone else would have, and now she knew why.
'It's because he cares about me,' she thought and felt herself flush, she didn't want to show him that side of her at the moment, so she hid it by pressing her face on his chest. The idea that he cared so much… it made her feel… scared... but also it really happy. Because there was someone who thought she mattered and wanted to be with her. Ryoga would never abandon her; he wouldn't try to force any dangerous training techniques on her.
And to think he was willing to do this without asking anything in return, 'I'm so lucky to have him… if he ever left me…'
Ranko had to fight the ball of fear the mere idea of losing Ryoga made her feel. She suspected that, were she not amnesiac, she would normally hate the idea of depending so much in another person, but that was foolish, she decided. Having someone to talk to, someone to travel with, to work and to laugh with was nice. Yes, she enjoyed that, she really liked to have Ryoga with her because of how much she... cared for him?
Yes. She cared... She cared so much for him too. More than even... what she thought was safe...
"Ryoga…" she called softly, shyly bringing her arms around him, gently returning his hug and then moving so she could look him in the eye, "Ryoga… I… I care about you too... You've helped since the beginning, always doing so much for me… thanks for everything. I don't know what would have happened if I had never met you... Ryo-Ryoga, you…"
"Go on, you can tell me," he assured, doing her best to sound encouraging.
She choked a little as she allowed herself to bask in their moment, her insecurities feeling like just some distant memory, casually cast out into the wind. She took in a deep breath and managed to continue.
"You're really... really... important to me...!" she nearly shouted as she muffled her words by burying her face back into Ryoga's shirt and hoping he hadn't seen how vulnerable he had made her.
"That's… thank you," Ryoga whispered. He felt his heart swell with joy but he managed, with great effort, to keep his emotions under control, because right then it was her who mattered. He had to remain calm, to keep offering her comfort. If he got carried away he would hug her so hard he could hurt her, he knew, it had happened once before when he encountered his father two years before after months without seeing him. But his father was sturdy and could resist a full strength hug from him, and Ryoga was certain Ranko could not.
And so he simply concentrated on softly holding her close, silently enjoying the fact she had hugged him back.
Several minutes later, when he felt she was calm again, he broke the hug but kept his hands on her shoulders. Looking down at her, he smiled and asked.
"Do you feel better, Ranko?"
She took in a deep breath and then offered him a soft smile. "Yes, Ryoga, I do feel better… this was nice, thank you… I think I needed that."
"I'm glad I could help," he said and returned the smile, gazing into her eyes and wondering if he could maybe kiss her now. The mood seemed right, after all, and perhaps this time he could…
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Inside what could only be described as Lotion's room the elder stared out her window, in the distance she could see the damage that Ryoga's training had done to the area as branches and even some trees had whole pieces of stone embedded into their trunks, in some cases, they even looked like crude makeshift weapons that giants would stick a large rock into and calling it an ax before uprooting it from the ground.
"I wonder if it's time..." Lotion mused to herself, bringing up her sleeve-covered hand and putting it on her chin. 'They've progressed even further than I could have imagined...' she furrowed her brow, humming to herself as she growled in her throat for a second before looking away.
"It'd be foolish not to take advantage of this opportunity..." she mumbled again, putting both her hands up her sleeves as she curled her lips in disgust before opening her eyes to see a dark brown square table with a portrait and some unlit incense nearby, 'I half wonder if my mind will start going if I don't act soon enough, so many precious memories...' she thought, looking as though she had a serious case of fog brain.
"It's getting harder to see these days..." she mumbled when she reached further to the side of the table and retrieved a pair of glasses.
Adjusting them to her face for a second the aged master looked at the portrait yet again, she could see a worn-out black and white photo of a family. The glare of the sun obscured most of the figures save for a brunette who wore thick glasses and was holding hands with a man in a white robe with oversized sleeves and black pants. Further to the man's left was a middle-aged woman who was shorter than the man she was standing next to; this woman kept her light gray hair rolled into a bun and beyond her but to the right of the group was none other than Lotion, standing next to a boy with long black hair who wore glasses that looked like they could have been the ends of soda bottles turned into lenses.
"I have to get as much back as I can..." she muttered as she ran her hand along the glass surface of the portrait, "but first things, first..." she said shutting her eyes as slowly, much like when the sun sets over the horizon.
"I'll have them deal with Ryoga's ki imbalance before anything, can't have the boy slowing things down..." she confirmed to herself as she sighed heavily, putting one of her memories back on the table where she found it.
Now certain about what to do, Lotion made her way back over to her guest room, arms crossed as she carried a bag tied to the end of her cane.
Meanwhile, back in the living room...
Once again the lost boy found that despite their differences, there was something undoubtedly enticing about such a headstrong girl like Ranko, she was unlike anything he had ever encountered in a woman. His heart rate steadily climbed as seconds turned into minutes and the rest of the world around them just lost all significance.
Ranko found her eyes going wide once again, remembering how this feeling struck her before, this tension and unease, but along with it came an odd sort of giddiness that she couldn't just ignore, she had fallen under his spell once more and seemed to embolden herself by tugging harder at the fabric of the boy's shirt.
Slowly they closed their eyes and braced themselves for the magnetic pull they were failing to fight, when suddenly…
"I hope you two are done making kissy faces because now we're moving forward with our deal!" Lotion said as she opened the door, her tone quite business-like once again.
Quicker than a flock of geese hearing gunfire the awkward Romeo and Juliet distanced themselves from one another, both keeping their hands on their knees and forcing their composure.
Lotion strode into the room just as they had pulled away, and she actually gawked for a second and found her eyes going flat.
'Teenagers...' she thought and lowered her head a little, closing her eyes.
Neither spoke as they fought to calm the thumping in their chests and blood rushing to their faces.
"In order for our deal to stay on track I'm going to need to make sure Ryoga's problem doesn't hinder our efforts..." the annoyed elder commented as she allowed her tone to settle.
Ranko regained enough of her wits to realize that her cure would have to wait, something that disheartened the girl for a moment. Her reaction hadn't slipped under Ryoga's radar and he was able to spot her disappointment from the corner of his eye.
"Ryoga's should be the simplest to deal, so I'll need you two to find some Corly Weed from a small town called Shangjie..." she plucked the map from the bag as it stuck out from within reach.
"Is there anything we should watch out for...?" Ryoga asked in a stern voice, hoping that his actions would inspire confidence in her.
"Noting my training hasn't prepared you for..." Lotion responded as she then tossed the rolled up parchment towards the downtrodden redhead.
"Huh?" Ranko at first looked perplexed, holding the map in her hand as she opened it.
"You take it, girl..."
"Wha...?" Ryoga had been so mystified with Ranko's almost adorable perplexing that he hadn't noticed Lotion throwing the bag directly at him, but he was able to instinctively catch it. He stared at it and was so glad that his training had prepared him for something like that.
"Good catch..." Ranko commented as she seemed relieved and had to remind herself that the man standing behind her withstood so much more than whatever was in their equipment.
"There's another list in that bag I want you to take into account, along with some money..." she commented as she turned her back to them.
"Thank you..." Ryoga bowed his head once and then grabbed the bag by the knot and slung it on his shoulder.
"Ranko you're in charge by the way..." Lotion smiled knowingly before turning around and walking away from the two.
The very instant that Lotion said Ranko was in charge the redhead beamed with a proud smile, closing her eyes she crossed her arms and then turned to her close friend and quiet nearly her first kiss to point her thumb at her chest. "You heard the lady Ryo, I'm in charge..."
"Why does that sound so unnerving...?" Ryoga asked as he swallowed deeply.
"Trust me, pal, I've got this..." Ranko assured with a very assertive tone, putting a hand on his shoulder and walking towards their guest room, hurriedly snatching the backpack with ease.
Ryoga although had said what he did, couldn't help but silently mouth the words 'thank you' before clasping his hands together in prayer while Ranko wasn't looking, glad that he wasn't the one that had to lead them for a change.
"Ready?" she asked as she returned with their things to see Ryoga nearly clapping his hands on his hips before nodding his head.
"Yeah, ready," he smiled. "Let's go."
"Hmm...?" she gawked at the map once they both were outside, but shrugged as she looked at it a second time, briefly going through it with her fingers acting as her point of focus and eventually came across their location and then looked to one of the many red circles on the map.
"How's it look?" Ryoga asked wondering what she had to say.
"It's a little longer than I thought it'd be but we might as well get started..." Ranko commented as she folded the map in four to keep it in her pocket. She did not notice the small weight of a certain ring she also carried there, however, as she had completely forgotten about it.
"I've also packed some rations, try not to overeat..." Lotion called then, a sack full of foodstuffs in hand.
"Whatever, mom..." Ranko mocked as she approached the front door to grab the food.
"I'm just keeping my assists safe, child..." Lotion countered as she crossed her arms and smirked.
"After we get the Corly Weed, should we return, or do we go for the other items on the list?"
"You may if you find that you cannot continue..." Lotion answered as she then pointed her staff towards the road ahead. "Well, get going, you two. Shangjie is a day away from here by foot."
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The situation was bordering on ridiculous. Cologne decided as she walked through the hallways of the house where they kept Genma Saotome imprisoned. Her granddaughter and the village's best trackers had returned empty-handed, and she strongly suspected Shampoo and Mousse would not capture Ranma either. Perhaps it would be wiser to simply let Genma go, as it was clear his son was not going to be captured any time soon.
'It would be a shame, however,' Cologne thought, stopping to open the door with her cane and then stepping out. She enjoyed the warm sun welcoming her, but still kept this Saotome situation in mind as she went down the streets. 'I suppose you can't win them all. I would have loved to see how strong Shampoo's daughters with Ranma would have been… now if what I'm fearing is true, I will most likely have to settle with her having children with Mousse.'
Then again, even Cologne had to admit Mousse was not a weak young man, and despite his poor eyesight did have lots of potential perhaps even with some guidance…
The old martial artist put those thoughts aside and instead decided to simply walk around town, simply enjoying looking at the other amazons going about their business in Joketsuzoku. She stopped for a moment once she arrived at the town square to observe a group of seven girls practicing next to the hanging log they used for official Amazon tournaments, five of them had possibilities, Cologne decided, but the two more advanced were clearly naturals, and she made a note of making sure a member of the Joketsuzoku elder council supervised their training once they were a few years older. Satisfied, she continued on her way to the village's gates, to greet the merchants arriving from other towns, hoping to see someone from Yakusai to ask for a specific kind of herbs that she needed as she wanted to use them as ingredients for a special stew she wanted to cook for dinner that evening. Once he was at the main gate, she sat on a small rock and lighted up her long pipe, enjoying the flavor of Yakusai's special brand of tobacco.
Cologne's peace and quiet were suddenly interrupted when her great-granddaughter and her nearsighted suitor rushed in her direction, coming down the hill to the left of the village as fast as their feet could carry them. Once they were in front of her, the two teenagers started going on about something so quickly that she was having trouble understanding them.
"Children, slow down!" the elder demanded. "I can't understand what you're saying!"
"The Musk Dynasty will attack our village in one month unless we find Ranma and the Musk Royal ring!" Shampoo exclaimed after forcing Mousse to stop talking by rudely shoving her left hand on his face.
"What?" asked Cologne, left eyebrow rising as she had trouble believing what her girl was saying.
"It's true!" Mousse said then. "Prince Herb blames us for the disappearance of his ring!"
"But why would he do that?" the elder said. "It makes no sense!"
"Because Ranma found the Royal Ring," an alarming Shampoo said. "For some reason, the girl who had the ring first lost it or dropped it, and then apparently that stupid fake woman picked it up!"
"And since Herb can't find the ring now that Ranma has it, he put the blame on us, because we could not stop Ranma from escaping," Mousse provided. "Herb said that if we didn't find the ring in a month he would come and raze our village to the ground!"
Cologne stood in silence for an instant while she considered this development. She could not even imagine how Ranma managed to complicate things so much without apparently trying. Was that child a living trouble magnet? No, the elder decided to put Ranma to the side for a moment. The Musk Prince's ultimatum was much more important. She closed her eyes and focused on remembering everything she knew of the Musk, paying close attention to the information she had about their fighting skills and power.
The Amazon elder ran a hand over her brow and swallowed in fear; as far as she knew, Herb was a formidable opponent, one that not many Amazons could defeat in battle. Cologne was, in fact, certain that other than herself and two or three other elders, no Amazon was skilled or powerful enough to best Herb in a fight. And they had to consider the other Musk fighters the prince would bring with him; Tiger and Lion clansmen would certainly be ready to attack, members of the Wolf and Bear clan, as well. If the Musk attacked in a large enough group, and Cologne knew they would, then the Amazons had no chance of repelling them. In a direct confrontation, Joketsuzoku would fall under the Musk's might in less than two or three hours. Oh, the Amazons would fight to the end, of course, but that wouldn't change the result: the Amazons could not defeat the Musk Dynasty.
"What are we going to do?" Shampoo asked then, trying hard to hide the fear in her voice.
"You two will keep quiet about this for the time being," Cologne ordered. "I will call all the elders; we need to decide what to do."
"All the elders?" Mousse asked then. "Does that mean you're going to call my…"
"No. She was banished," Cologne interrupted. "That woman is not coming back here unless the elder council lifts her punishment, and not even this situation will convince us to change it, you can count on that, boy."
"But…"
"Enough, we don't have time to waste on this!" the ancient Amazon said. "You and Shampoo will get special training starting today. In the meantime, I'll suggest the Council send out our trackers again, perhaps this time they'll manage to find and capture Ranma before next month, with some luck that blasted Saotome child still has the ring or can tell us where it is!"
Not waiting for any reply, Cologne turned around and rushed to the Town Hall, already planning to organize an emergency meeting, because she was not going to let the Musk destroy the Amazon Village!
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The Next day...
The sun hung high in the sky as it lit its way through the treacherous forests in the deep Chinese mountains; the terrain was filled with thick foliage, occasionally toppled over trees, and the distant shrieks of wildlife echoed in the distance like an ominous wind.
Though none of these things were of concern for the two martial artists as they seemed content, packing their things while a hazy white smoke rose from the dead campfire.
Ryoga rolled up his sleeping back while awkwardly avoiding eye contact with the redhead, his eyes, however, would often drift to her. He couldn't for the life of him see if she was uncertain about anything or had even been worried about what had almost happened... in fact, quite a few times already and once with her Neko-ken mindset.
'I like that she's so focused but I wonder if she's not sure about me...' Ryoga thought as he watched her tugging on her shoulder straps.
"How's it goin', Ryoga?" Ranko asked as she looked over to the boy lost boy who was finishing up by tying the knot at the end of the bag.
"Ready..." Ryoga replied calmly as he reached down and grabbed one end of a thick branch so he could tie the bag to one end, that done he lift it up and gave it a shake before resting it on his shoulder.
"Good..." Ranko remarked quickly and evaded his eyesight as she found her thoughts going back to their previous near kiss and how weak she felt because of it.
'Why am I so nervous...? I like him... he cares about me...and yet…' she pondered as she leads the way, taking out their map.
Ryoga followed silently and quirked a brow as he had gotten the faintest of glances but he was almost certain he saw how flustered she looked.
'I think she's just avoiding talking to me about it this time...' he thought, lowering his head enough to cast a shadow over his eyes.
In truth Ranko wasn't actually paying that much attention to the map; they were on a dirt trail that would last a while, no, what had her so lost and standoffish was how she tried to rationalize her actions.
'I kept saying before that it wouldn't be fair to the guy but...' she thought before letting her brain wander back to what had happened the day before and how close they had been.
Ryoga's gripe on the branch tightened as he finally looked up to the girl's back and opened his mouth, only to shut to immediately shut it as if he had said something impolite.
'How do I even talk to her about this...? Hey, Ranko we were about to kiss last night, and do you think we can...?' Ryoga pondered then shook his head, rejecting the idea.
Unknowingly the redhead started to crumble the map inwards as she had been so preoccupied in her thoughts that she failed to notice how obvious she was being. For once she didn't have the need to be as it looked as though her friend was just as absorbed in their thoughts as she was.
'I know I keep saying that but I've almost done it way too many times for it to be a coincidence, maybe I don't have a boyfriend or anything and I'm wasting what little time I got with him...' Ranko thought lost in her thoughts so much that she hadn't even noticed a root sticking up from the ground.
Ryoga finished berating himself just in time to see Ranko's foot trip over a root and cause her to fall, reacting with one hand as quickly as he could he was able to grab his backpack from Ranko's back and then held her up in the air, where she dangled like a piñata. "You alright…?"
"Y-yeah... thanks..." she replied, as she felt him lower her properly enough to stand on her feet.
"You look distracted, Ranko…" Ryoga pushed, trying to maintain his composure although was finding it a bit hard. "Something on your mind…?"
"I don't wanna talk about it right now..." Ranko began as she lowered her head and looked off to the side, feeling glad she wasn't standing behind him or by his side as she swallowed rather deeply.
"Oh..."
"B-But it's not like we'll never talk about it..." Ranko added as she looked to the map and blinked.
Ryoga felt the corner of his lips curling into a soft smile as he saw that his feelings weren't being dismissed but it was certainly better than thinking he had no chance at all.
'I really hope if she gets her memories back she doesn't forget me,' he thought as he stopped for a second as they went down a small hill but further up was a curve in the road, the trees and plant life so thick that seeing beyond it felt nearly impossible.
…
Eventually, they passed the curve and Ranko smirked as they reached the closest thing to a clearing they could find as farmland was now visible in the distance, and further than that was a small village, but what also came into view was a long river that stretched beyond their vision.
Immediately upon reaching the town, the two began asking around and eventually found themselves getting the attention of someone who knew they were speaking Japanese, although they couldn't really speak to one another but by the simple fact that Lotion had written the name of the store in Japanese characters they were at least able to pronounce the name of the store correctly enough for people to point them in the right direction.
"I think this is the place..." Ranko looked to the map and read on the supplies list what the store was called, she could see that the kanji character did indeed match.
"The town's smaller than I thought it'd be..." Ryoga commented.
"Yeah, it is..." Ranko muttered as she stepped into the store and immediately she noticed that there were a variety of household items, ranging from indoor decorations, outdoor decorations, and various tools of many different crafts. "But people seem nice here, though..."
"Hello there! I've heard from some of the folk here about two teens chanting the name of my store..." the kind middle-aged patron announced as he was approached.
"Alright, finally some luck!" Ranko said in relief as she smiled and then gestured to herself. "My name's Ranko, and this here is my friend, Ryoga."
"Nice to meet you!" Ryoga bowed his head.
"My name is Hui Qing," he said before bowing his in respect and rising once more. "What brings you all the way out here to Shangjie?"
"We're here with a list..." Ryoga indicated as he swung the branch with the bag and retrieved the list poking out from the gap near the knot.
"I see; can I look at it?" he asked as he brought a set of kitchen knives onto the counter.
"Sure, here you go," Ranko said after reaching for the list and handing it over to Hui Qing.
"Hmm... this, too?" the store merchant read through the list and tilted his head back, narrowing his eyes. "I believe I have everything you'll need."
"Oh hey there's something else we're hoping to get!" Ryoga announced all of a sudden.
"Yes, what is it?" Hui Qing asked as he looked over his shoulder, climbing a ladder to reach for a pot on the top of a wooden shelf.
"We were hoping you'd know where we can get some Corly Weed?" Ranko asked as she plopped her backpack down and leaned against the counter near the register.
"Hmm... well, you couldn't find it here in Shangjie if you wanted but I may know ways you can acquire it..." he hummed in thought as he climbed down the steps of his ladder and began to make his way across the room with the list inside the pot he had taken down.
"If it's not too much trouble..." Ryoga said.
"You can find it if you follow the river further north where it grows, a yellow plant with thin branches," he paused while inspecting a ladle before taking that as well and grabbing a basket, putting the gardening tool in it before making his way over to the front counter, depositing the things he had gotten before reaching under the counter and producing a picture for them to see.
Both Ranko and Ryoga eyed it for a good while before Ranko reached out and took it.
"It's a valuable plant and often difficult to find, what with all the competing villagers who want to sell it, but if you find your luck wanting, I'd suggest perhaps going to Yakusai," Hui Qing finished as he rang their total and awaited payment.
The simple uttering of that village brought back some unpleasant memories for Ranko and Ryoga and some even rather embarrassing ones at that too. They both felt nervous and choose to avoid commenting on that before thanking him and of course, paying him for the supplies too of course.
…
A while later...
"Think this is the place..." Ranko stated, surveying their surroundings and looking around the edges of the river and the nearby forestry.
"Let's get to looking then," Ryoga remarked as he followed her example and began to walk further down to perhaps spot it a little ahead.
Searching for a little while they found a few plants, mostly ones they had never seen before nor cared to look into as they were there with a goal in mind: the Corly Weed.
"Hey! I think I found it!" Ryoga exclaimed as he stopped and pointed down at the plant in suspect.
"Lemme see!" Ranko protested before moving over to her companion and comparing the picture with the plant.
"Well...?" Ryoga questioned, waiting for her reply.
"I think this is it, not much of it though... it's very small," she lamented. "The Yakusai herbalists were probably here before us…"
"Think it's enough for my cure...?"
"I hope so," Ranko said as she reached down and plucked the plant from the ground, giving it to Ryoga so he could put it in their backpack.
"Handover that Corly Weed," a man's voice urged as he spoke from further down the river, startling both Ryoga and Ranko, who weren't expecting any company.
"Who're you and why should I care...?" the redhead scoffed as she looked over at the mysterious cloaked man approaching them.
"Oh great..." Ryoga rolled his eyes; a petty thief? That was something he didn't need at the moment, he thought briefly and groaned in annoyance for having to deal with this.
"I'm not kidding, that's the last of the Corly Weed this season and the greedy merchants from Yakusai will pay a lot for it!" the clearly masculine voice declared before taking a step forward and holding out his hand insistently. "I must have the money for that herb and I'm not going to let two weaklings take what's mine, so give it up or you will suffer!" he warned, his eyes severe as he pointed at the pair.
"Gee, just go take a hike; can't you see we're busy?" Ranko ordered as she tried to pay him no mind.
Ryoga narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the plant. "Unlike you, we're not just doing this for profit..."
The lone figure chuckled bemusedly before turning his head to the side once.
"It really is unfortunate that you two would choose pain over a plant..." the man said as he reached for his cloak and tore it off, swiftly tossing it to the side, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Taro, and I... am your doom!"
To be continued...
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