"Are you sure your nose got that woman's scent?" Lime inquired as he stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest, looking down at the burnt rubble that was once a home.
"I'm trying but there are a lotta' scents here," Mint replied as he then raised his head and began sniffing the air around the piles of scorched lumber and burnt pieces of brick. "It's no use, the ash and rubble make it too confusing… let's go down the road."
"Well, if you think it'll help," Lime agreed as he followed his small friend into a road that went out of the abandoned farm.
"Do you remember what else those boar trackers said?" Mint asked while sniffing with his eyes closed.
"Uh..." Lime paused as he took the time to think, now looking up and away from Mint. "I think that one guy said something about 'that woman' getting herself a man to travel with..."
"Oh yeah..." Mint paused and rolled his eyes up to think it over. "Didn't that tracker say he had some pretty familiar looking fangs too?"
"He said the guy that hit him was way stronger than any human he's ever met, took a punch straight to the face and into a tree..."
"Hmm...?" Mint stopped his nosing around to see why his friend had paused so abruptly.
"We need to look for a tree that's toppled over!" Lime exclaimed without any further context as he had just blurted out whatever came to mind at that moment.
"There are trees everywhere, Lime…"
"No! There's a man with that woman, right?"
"Oh! We find the tree; we find the man's scent to get to the woman!" Mint declared with a look of glee. 'So I look for the smell of a man and a woman!' he closed his eyes and began searching for two distinct smells.
His large jungle cat friend followed behind as Mint began to move down the road a little faster. "So...?" he prodded.
"I think I got their scent..." Mint muttered with a serious expression as he began to move while sniffing the air.
"That means we can get closer to actually seeing a woman! Wait… that reminds me Lord Herb said that without the ring that woman stole he won't be able to ascend the throne…" Lime remembered as he felt a sour frown cross his tiger-like scowl.
"Yeah, but he said we shouldn't say that out loud so don't mention it again, Lime… oh, say… do you think Lord Herb would be alright if we saw the things on this thief's chest?" Mint wondered aloud, looking up at the sky.
"You mean those things they call... breasts, I think..."
"Really? I thought they were a father on their chests..."
"A father? I don't think so, why would a father be in a chest?"
"Hmm... you're probably right..." Mint concluded as he led them into a clearing.
"I wonder if breasts have their own special scent." Lime wondered as he put his closed palm near his mouth before seeing that his friend had caught the scent.
"I got something here!" Mint announced as he dropped on all fours to better sniff the ground. "This is probably where they fought!" he continued, closing his eyes to better attune his focus on the smells.
Lime nodded his head and decided to look around, he noticed that the area they were in had been cleared as though someone had taken a large knife to the surrounding forestry, 'Not a bad set up...' he thought.
"I found the tree! Lime! They were here!" Mint caught sight of it and scurried over to the once-rooted, stationary giant.
"Then let's hurry!" Lime shouted as he gripped the shoulder straps of his large backpack with traveling supplies, delighted to know that they were at least on the right track to completing their mission.
"Our first time seeing a woman!" Mint shouted, sounding quite cheerful.
----------------------------------------
"You know, this town is not what I expected," Ranko said as she walked, hands on her back while she looked left and right. They had entered the town not too long ago and were looking at all the stores on both sides of the street with a mix of hope and mistrust.
The redhead wasn't feeling as optimistic as before, true, but she remained enthusiastic about finding a cure here, while her companion seemed lost in thought as he tried to stay as close to her as he could. Not that she disliked it, though. Ranko had to admit that she rather have Ryoga near her than see him waste his time with purple-haired, crazy girls like that stupid amazon from earlier.
"…'Cause he's said he's gonna help me first, didn't he?" Ranko thought, discreetly looking to her left to make sure Ryoga was still there, feeling strangely relaxed seeing that he was.
The two continued walking through the village's main street and for the most part all they could see were stores full of roots, bottles, flasks, and jars filled to the brim with different concoctions, containers, and bags of strange powders and seeds and plants in pots that rested on boards and tables all set neatly in some stores or disorderly in others. The smells that filled the street were a mixture of sweet and sour depending on the store, some were perfume-like while others were so spicy it irritated their nostrils. If anything, the town completely honored its reputation as an herbalist village.
It was unfortunate, then, that all signs they had seen hanging in the shops so far were in Chinese, and that none of the vendors appeared to be fluent in Japanese. This was slowly frustrating them since Ranko couldn't speak any Chinese and Ryoga's was so weak he couldn't really ask for what they wanted properly.
As busy as they were trying to find someone who could understand Japanese, they didn't notice the old man who had started following them shortly after they entered the town. He had kept his distance to avoid suspicion, and the many people who came and went along the main street helped him remain unnoticed. The shady individual twisted his thin, chin-long mustache as he walked, wondering just how a simple teenage girl could have caused so much trouble to Cologne and the Amazons. Well, he would find out about it soon, all he had to do was to keep close to the teenagers and wait for a chance to execute one of the few plans he had prepared to deal with them. In the meantime, he simply stopped and leaned on a wall, smoking from his pipe as he watched how the girl and his friend stopped a random person, trying to ask him questions.
"Not much, only basic?" the fat merchant said after Ryoga had asked him, in terrible Chinese, if he spoke Japanese. The man hooked his fingers around his belt as he strained to understand what the children in front of him wanted. He had to stifle a laugh as he saw how the redheaded girl, who was actually very pretty, went out of her way to correct and interrupt her friend every other word. "Oh, shop with Japanese speak owner! Yes, yes, left next corner, you find that!"
"Excellent, thank you very much, mister!" Ranko said and waved her hand as she dragged Ryoga in the direction he had pointed them to. She was now feeling relieved that they would find bilingual people here, it would make finding the medicine she needed much easier.
"Yeah, thank you very much!" Ryoga managed, hastening his pace so he wouldn't trip as Ranko started sprinting down the street.
It didn't take them long to enter the lateral street they had been told about, and just as they were promised, several signs in the stores here had small signs indicating Japanese was spoken. Ranko counted quickly and sighed in relief to see there were twelve shops that had bilingual services; surely one of them had a cure for her amnesia and if they didn't, she trusted they may even offer to get it for her if she asked.
"Alright!" Ranko grinned. "Let's ask around!"
"Sure, let's try the first store on the other side of the street," he suggested. "It looks well stocked."
"Yep, it does look good."
----------------------------------------
But a few minutes later…
"You've got to be kidding me…" muttered Ranko, sitting on a fountain, her elbows on her knees and her face low, her expression was downcast, and it was easy to see she wasn't feeling that great anymore. Ryoga was sitting next to her, and one look at the boy was all it took to notice he felt as disappointed as his redheaded friend.
They had asked all the stores and the results hadn't been very good. While they had found what they wanted, the prices of the medicines they needed were prohibitive. Ranko's amnesia cure was priced at triple the money they had between the two, and she had also secretly asked about a cure for whatever it was that made it so she couldn't touch hot water, but that had also been way above her budget.
Ryoga, on his part, had taken advantage of a few instances when Ranko was distracted to ask for something that could help him with his sense of direction, but the medicine was not only too pricey, its effects lasted only for a few hours and he would have to consume it for the rest of his life, something he didn't think he could afford, so he was instead thinking of eventually buying as much of it as he could and use it only for emergencies. Problem was, he didn't have enough money to pay for it, or to help Ranko pay for her own medicine.
"Man, being short on money sucks…" he thought sourly.
"I guess not everything could go well," Ranko lamented, straightened and then swung her feet back and forth, "stupid merchants and their stupidly high prices!"
"We…" Ryoga cleared his throat and then quickly added. "We can try to find a job here in town until we save enough money for what we need… it's what I always do when I need to buy something."
"Ugh… another job?" Ranko asked, not very enthusiastic about the idea. She still remembered her experience with the lady from the inn and feared she would end up working for yet another slave driver.
"Well, I don't see what other options we have," Ryoga said.
"You two children seem to be in need of help," a voice said then, forcing the teenagers to look up.
In front of them was a tall, very thin old man who held a pipe in one hand and twisted the left tip of his rather long mustache with the other. He wore plain white and yellow clothes and a rather odd brown hat. The man gave an air of ancient wisdom except for one thing that almost made Ranko chuckle: his white eyebrows were long, long enough to reach the sides of his face.
"And who may you be, mister?" Ryoga asked.
"I'm called Ginseng," the man said with a toothy smile. "I own the best and biggest shop in town. I bet you couldn't find what you needed in these second-rate stores. What do you need? I'm sure I have it."
"We found it," Ranko said. "Too expensive."
Ginseng rose one of his long, long eyebrows and Ryoga clarified naming the price of the amnesia medicine, stating that other things they asked about were very costly as well.
"We don't have enough to pay for it," the Lost Boy said. "We didn't expect it to be so expensive."
"Ah… yes, good medicine can be," Ginseng nodded. "How much money do you have?"
Ranko named the amount of Yuan they carried.
"That won't get you much," the old man said and then smiled, this was actually good for him and would make things much easier. He'd be able to deliver these kids to Cologne sooner than he thought. "I have an offer for you, children."
"A job?" The redhead asked. "Doin' what?"
"Well, I resupplied yesterday, and I have a lot of new medicine in my shop and the storeroom. My sons are not in town right now and…," Ginseng began while he put his pipe in his mouth to give it a long and hard puff. "There's nobody to help me put it all in order, and my rheumatism is acting up. If you help me, I'd sell you that amnesia medicine with a large discount… and if you do a good job I may even give it to you for free. So… interested?"
Ryoga and Ranko eyed each other and while the young Hibiki seemed to be a bit cautious Ranko, who for some reason felt she had to grab this chance and worry about the implications later, jumped to her feet and quickly shook the old man's hand.
"Deal!" she smiled, feeling glad things were looking better now. "Lead the way, mister!"
----------------------------------------
"What's this supposed ta be?" Ranko wondered, showing Ryoga a flask full of orange powder. The label was in Chinese so she had no idea what was inside the container.
"I don't know, but you should leave it alone," the Lost Boy warned, this was the fifth time Ranko had interrupted him to ask him if he knew what something was. He figured she was doing that because she was bored and he couldn't blame her; they had been moving jars, flasks, bags, leaves, branches, seeds, dried fruits, roots, and many other implements from the storeroom to the actual shop and then putting them in order according to Ginseng's instructions for what it felt like hours.
"Meh… what if it's what we need?" She asked, opening the flask and sniffing the powder inside it, an action she immediately regretted. "Gah… this stinks!"
"Be glad that's all it did," Ryoga chuckled. "Some of the things here could hurt you for real."
"I know… I'm just tired of this," Ranko sighed. "At least we're about ta finish."
"Yeah, it's been a very tedious two hours," he agreed while putting several bottles and bags of seeds in a basket, which he started carrying towards the shop. It was a good thing there was only one exit from the storeroom and that it took him behind the shop's counter, as it had helped Ryoga work without worrying about getting lost. Once he had put the medicines in their proper place, their work would be complete and they could finally buy Ranko's medicine.
"And then she'll remember who she is and where her family is," the young Hibiki thought then, feeling a little uncertain about what would happen once Ranko recovered her memories. Would she declare she could go find her parents on her own and leave him? Would she think he was odd? What if she forgot about him or if her personality changed? Ryoga took in a deep breath to drive those depressing thoughts away. Whatever happened, it was something beyond his control, so all he could do was hope she'd agree to let him help her find her family. "And if she has a boyfriend? She's so pretty…! Of course, she has one, it's impossible that she doesn't have one."
Ryoga looked back at Ranko, who was following him. She smiled at him and showed him the basket she carried, it was also full of medicine. He smiled back and turned to look at Ginseng. The idea that she had a boyfriend somewhere stayed with Ryoga, however, and it was making him feel increasingly worried, to the point he hoped they wouldn't get the medicine, but he rushed to squash that thought as soon as it appeared. She was counting on him and those thoughts were dishonorable.
"Thank you for clearing the storeroom and organizing the store," Ginseng said once Ranko and Ryoga completed that second task. "You did such good job, children, that I'll give you the amnesia cure for free. Wait here, I'm now going to give you what you earned."
"Thank you, sir," Ryoga said and bowed respectfully while Ranko simply grinned, obviously too happy the work was done and she would finally get her medicine.
"Don't thank me," the old man said and headed to the back of the store. "I'll be back in a minute, please wait here."
"Ya hear, Ryo? We got it for free! For FREE!" Ranko told him with a smile so bright it was almost blinding. The redhead was literally bouncing in anticipation, and the only reason why she didn't hug Ryoga was that the thought reminded her of that incident by the river. She filed that memory away quickly enough, however, she was simply too happy to think of anything else.
"Yeah… I'm very happy for you, Ranko," Ryoga said, he returned her smile, but he wasn't as enthusiastic about the whole thing as she was. The doubts he had dismissed earlier had returned and were filling him with doubt. Would he lose Ranko once she recovered her memories?
She chuckled and leaned on the counter, sighing and closing her eyes, feeling truly joyful at the idea of finally remembering her family. She wondered how his parents were and how they looked; she figured both her mom and dad were attractive; it was the only way to explain her good looks. She also wondered if she had siblings. She kind of hoped she had a younger sister or an older brother, she thought having a brother to spar with and a sister to scheme things with would be cool.
A few minutes passed, and Ranko hoping to combat the anxiety she was starting to feel, started looking around the shop while they waited, trying to read the labels on the bottles at first and then simply staring at the weird plants in a corner shelve. One of them even looked like a person screaming! It disgusted her a little, so she quickly moved to another shelf, this one full of different balms and creams. She grabbed one and opened it after looking at the drawing on the label. It seemed to be something to help with muscle pain and it didn't smell bad, which was a change all things considered.
"I wonder if my mom or dad use something like this?" she wondered, placing a balm back on the shelf. "I can't believe I'll remember everything, at last, I can't wait!"
"Do you smell smoke? I think something's burning," Ryoga said then rising from the stool where he'd been sitting. "Yes… I do smell smoke! And also something else…"
"Hm… now that ya mention it…" Ranko began, but couldn't continue for her body started feeling very heavy and stiff. She tried to take a step, but fell on her back and couldn't get up. Her whole body felt like a sack of rocks!
"Ranko, what's wrooong…" just as the redhead, Ryoga also experienced the same stiffening and while it took longer for him to be completely affected, he too fell flat on his side and no matter how much he struggled he couldn't move an inch, all he could do was blink.
It was only when the two were completely paralyzed that Ginseng returned to the shop, with two men walking behind him. The old herbalist had a white surgical mask on and held a candle holder in his right hand, where a thick red candle was lit and spreading a faint colored smoke that filled the whole place with an odd smell. "You are very strong, my boy. For a moment there I thought we would have to do something extra to subdue you."
Ryoga and Ranko, unable to even groan, focused instead on glaring angrily at Ginseng.
"Don't worry, my paralyzing scent will simply keep you from escaping my shop until someone else comes for you," Ginseng stated as he signaled the other men to approach, they also wore white masks to remain safe from the scent's paralyzing effects. "Take them to the storeroom."
"Of course, dad," said one of the men as he picked Ryoga up.
"Consider it done, father," said the other while he reached for Ranko.
----------------------------------------
Mousse, hands hidden under his sleeves, walked slowly behind Shampoo. He wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying since she was telling him about how much she disliked the Herbalist village thanks to the many problems she'd had during the years with a pair of twins that lived here. The only reason why the boy had tuned Shampoo out was that he had heard this tale many times before and knew quite well of the bitter rivalry between his purple-haired friend and the herbalist twins, Pink and Link.
All Mousse hoped for was that they didn't run into the twins, as he didn't feel like waiting until the three teenage girls finished trading insults the way they usually did. The only positive he could see, however, was that thinking about Pink and Link had distracted Shampoo enough that she had stopped grousing about their recent defeat at the hands of that redhead and her friend, something that Mousse was still mulling over.
Unfortunately, Pink and Link walked around the corner just then, almost bumping face-first on Shampoo.
"Hey! Watch it, if you please?" Pink, the twin with the kanji for poison on her red chest plate demanded.
"Agreed, you're very careless," Link, the other twin who had the kanji for medicine on her blue chest plate seconded.
"And you're both very stupid!" Shampoo stated with a scowl.
"What, you wanna go at it?" Pink asked while giving Shampoo the finger. "We're getting even with you right now!"
"Pink, I think you shouldn't do this so harshly, let's plan something first if you please?" Link suggested.
"You plan to poison me again, you pair of plant-witches?" Shampoo accused. "You've been doing that since we were three!"
"And you've been punching us since then!" Both twins countered. "It's your fault we do that!"
"My fault? Did you forget who…?" Shampoo took then a deep breath. "No, I have more important things to do, I can't waste time with you."
"Does that mean you won't hit us a hundred times like usual?" Link asked, sounding hopeful.
"I don't trust her," Pink said.
"No, I won't punch you a hundred times," Shampoo promised. "I'll just kick you hard once!"
And before the twins could react, the angry Amazon punted the twins straight into a wall, where they crashed loudly and so hard they left severe cracks on it as they comically slid down, unconscious, to the ground.
"I better not see you again while I'm here!" Shampoo warned as she walked past the unmoving forms of Pink and Link.
"I believe they didn't hear you," Mousse observed.
"I don't care," Shampoo answered with an angry huff.
"Yeah, I can see that," he said. "Anyway, would you like to go eat something before we visit the village's elder? I'm starving so…"
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Shampoo, who was also hungry herself, considered Mousse words and decided that since she would be arriving uninvited, it didn't matter much if she took a few minutes to eat. Besides, she was certain the redhead and her friend was still in town, and maybe eating as well; if they were lucky they may even find them in one of the town's restaurants!
"Well?"
"Yeah, let's go do that," she agreed, hoping they would run into that annoying, red-haired pest.
Not too long after that…
The house was right in the middle of Yakusai, just a little further from the Town's Square. It was fairly luxurious and was surrounded by a big garden where many healing plants were grown. Shampoo had never entered the house, always choosing to stay out whenever her Great-grandmother brought her to the herbalist village. Mousse, however, was interested in meeting the elder, as he once read there was a medicine that could help reverse his blindness somewhat, and he hoped Ginseng could give him information about it. They walked to the door and knocked on it a couple of times, waiting until a young maid opened the door.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"We wish to see Herbalist Master Ginseng," Shampoo said with a polite bow. "Amazon Elder Cologne sends her regards and a message."
"Oh, in that case, I'll take you to him right away," the maid said, knowing quite well that Cologne and Ginseng were good friends, and that her master would probably want to hear Cologne's message as soon as possible. "Please follow me."
"We don't have any message," Mousse whispered.
"He doesn't know that, does he?" Shampoo whispered back. "We'll just make something up, don't worry."
They walked down a corridor decorated with tall vases and portraits of landscapes and then reached the living room, where Ginseng was sitting on his favorite couch, which was conveniently located next to a big window, and talking on the phone.
"Yes, Cologne, I already have the redhead and her friend," he said. "It wasn't difficult to capture them with my paralysis scent. They're in my shop right now, safely locked in the storeroom."
Right then, hearing the door open, Ginseng looked up and nodded when his maid asked if the guests could join him or if they should wait in another room. Once the maid left and Mousse and Shampoo were sitting on the couch in front of him, Ginseng started speaking on the phone again.
"Your great-granddaughter just arrived, Cologne," he announced. "You didn't mention she would come here… oh? Do you want to talk to her? Sure, hold on."
Ginseng offered Shampoo the phone. "Your great-grandmother is asking for you."
"Thank you," Shampoo said and grabbed the phone. "Hello?"
"Ginseng already captured Ranma and her friend," Cologne said on the other side of the line.
"Yes, I just heard," the teenager provided. "What do you want me to do with them?"
"Just bring them both back to Joketsuzoku," the elder said. "Then your mission will be complete."
"No fighting, then?"
"You can do that here if you really want to," Cologne told her. "Just make sure you bring them to the village, I'll take care of the rest."
"Very well, it shall be done," Shampoo promised.
But outside of Ginseng's garden…
"Well, that was interesting," Link said in a low voice. She and her twin had recovered reasonably quickly since Shampoo hadn't bothered with pummeling them into a fine paste, so they decided to follow her. Once the twins saw their rival entering the house where the elder lived, they decided to hide in the garden and ended up under the window that looked into the living room, a coincidence that allowed them to overhear some very juicy information.
"Agreed," Pink said with a grin. "We can use this to our advantage if you please?"
"Yes, it seems Shampoo has to take some redhead girl and her friend back to the Amazon village," Link declared. "Or at least that's what I understood."
"It would be a shame if someone went and released those two," Pink smirked sinisterly. "Shampoo's mission would fail."
"And she would probably be punished if that happened," Link nodded.
"Maybe Cologne would take her to train in Jusenkyo," Pink imagined. "Wouldn't that be fun?"
"A lot," Link said. "So…?"
"Yes, let's go save that redheaded girl and her friend, if you please," Pink said.
"Alright, let's go!" Link smiled.
The twins stealthily walked back to the fence that surrounded the garden and jumped over it, hurrying back to Ginseng's shop.
----------------------------------------
With a spring in their step and a vendetta on their minds, they reached the store where they two had been kept and surveyed their surroundings.
"The coast is clear..." Pink commented while the pair circled the building, eventually reaching the back, from where they were able to spot a window to the storeroom that had just heard about.
Inside the building, Ryoga and Ranko had been propped against the walls and seated next to one another as though they were ragdolls casually left behind by a child after playtime.
Their heads hung loosely while they silently panicked, try as they might and try they certainly did as the tenacious duo squinted their eyes in some vain attempt to fight the herbalist's paralyzing herbal essence.
'Damn it! Why'd it'd have to end like this!? Why can't I save anyone!? I never even got to...argh...' Ryoga thought desperately as he kept opening his eyes and conveying his feelings through what little his eyelids and intense stares could do.
'Should've known that Ginseng guy was too good to be true, and to think I'm probably gonna' be handed over to some crazy amazons... that crazy purple haired girl will probably just kill me no matter what, all before I could even find out who I really am! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!' Ranko thought over and over again, envisioning herself shaking her head in anger and disappointment.
Amidst her internal berating she felt her nerves comes to life briefly, unfortunately for her, she had been far too engrossed in her self-loathing to feel her balance shift and tilt her over to her side, her head bumping against Ryoga's arm as though she had been resting on him romantically.
Both Ranko and Ryoga snapped out of their respective pity fests to see that they had accidentally ended up in a pretty awkward situation together. It was at that moment the two inhaled sharply from the contact, letting the other know about their shock. Their inability to speak allowing them to hear whatever was around them.
It was long before they released deeply held in breaths, the air leaving their lungs as though they were carefully trying to keep themselves from knowing what their actions suggested. Thankfully the positions they were in hadn't allowed the other to see each other's faces.
Both shined as though they were bright red tomatoes, Ryoga's eyes looked away bashfully, despite the fact that he knew she couldn't see his eyes, acting only out of instinct. The same could be said for the redheaded martial artist, not like there was much she could accomplish with how they had been captured.
'T-This isn't so bad, really wish I could actually enjoy it but... Ehehe...' Ryoga mused as his thoughts and shyness prevented him from forming more cohesive thoughts.
'Aww man... poor Ryoga... I never even got to find out if I was single," Ranko pondered before blushing again, "S-so maybe, we could've, I dunno...' Ranko thought before shutting her eyes tight.
It was then that the sound of a sliding window echoed in the room, immediately Ryoga's and Ranko's eyes tried to find the source of the disruption. Across from them, they could see the window had been slid open, and then how a woman wearing a strange white outfit dropped into the room.
"Targets found, sister, if you please..." Pink spoke softly enough for her sister to hear her.
"Well done sister, I'll prepare the antidote..." Link commented as she dropped to her knees and began working her magic with a large mixing bowl.
Ranko's and Ryoga's eyes followed the two sisters and widened in surprise from what they were hearing; antidote? Did that mean…?
"Quickly if you please..." Pink whispered as she eyed the only other way into the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a pair of eyes locking onto hers, so she made a devious smile as she approached the two.
Neither Ranko nor Ryoga could understand a thing that was going on and appeared a tad bit concerned with the look she was giving them, beads of sweat forming around them in mere seconds.
"Too cute! Looks like the redhead found herself a boyfriend..." Pink teased as she kneeled in front of the two, her eyes shut as a delightful smile occupied her face. "Hmm...?" she stopped for a second to realize that neither had really reacted to her words.
"What is the matter, Sister?" the girl with the red kanji character on her chest asked.
"I don't think they speak Chinese..." she muttered before clearing her throat and closing her eyes.
All Pink could get from their expressions was that they appeared unnerved by their presence, this fact alone caused a smile to form on her face. 'Hope they get this one...' she thought before proceeding.
"Almost done..." Link mumbled while Pink continued undisturbed.
"When we heard there was some poor girl taken by Amazon's, we only hear she had a friend, not a boyfriend…" she muttered in Japanese, adding some emphasize on to the boyfriend part of her little sentence.
Landing her mark with excellent precision both Ranko and Ryoga's faces went bright red, which, in turn, caused Pink to place her hand over her mouth and suppress her giggling fit.
"Sister!" Link paused to say in Japanese while putting down a second medicine ball right next to another one, watching as Ryoga and Ranko appeared to be shocked more than they should have. "No time for games! Pink! Help me, if you please..." she said as she took one of the bowling ball sized pills in both hands.
Pink nodded her head while avoiding eye contact, knowing that she had been caught playing around but still couldn't help herself with certain opportunities presented themselves. Without question, she ran over to her medicine ball and plucked it from the ground like a watermelon fresh from the vine.
Desperate eyes tried as best as they could, sweat coated their faces and the back of their heads, uncertain as to what the motives of these girls were. Fear powered their need to escape, adrenaline coursing through their veins. They hadn't long to make their prayers before feeling their mouths extended to almost cartoonish proportions as the strange sisters forced their jaws open, resting them back to back against each other for added support.
The twins then plunged the medicine balls into their mouths at the same time, startling the two so much that they were finally able to scream from the fear of choking on what felt like globes being forced down their throats. Feeling like they were choking the two began to notice the medicine balls decrease in size and spread so rapidly that without even recognizing their ability to move they sat up and grabbed their throats with shaking hands.
Both Pink and Link safely jumped away from the other two as they fought to catch their breaths.
"What the hell!?" Ryoga demanded, on his hand and knees, one hand over his sore throat.
"Are ya' tryin' kill us!?" Ranko shrieked, in a similar pose.
"Tell us, if you please... can either of you move?" Both Pink and Link asked, surprising the two with how in sync the two twins appeared to be.
"Huh..." Ryoga after calming down felt like a fool for lashing out at this too, considering they hadn't started by barking out threats, the lost boy found himself a little curious.
"Hey, yeah..." Ranko stopped for a moment recognize this fact, also coming to her senses.
"If we wanted you two dead we could have just done it..." Pink commented, crossing her arms with a smug look.
"Now, if you please... we must leave!" Link warned, turning back to whence they came, "through the window!"
"Wait! Before we go anywhere! What gives?" Ranko asked and readied her arms as if preparing to fight.
"You two look an awful lot like the herbalists from around here..." Ryoga mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the two.
As if through some sort of twin telepathy the two were down on their knees while clasping each other's hands, "We are slaves to the Amazons; ever since we were young our parents sold us to them! If we choose to speak up, they would beat or punish us..." they answered while stifling whimpers of sorrow.
"That's awful! You poor things!" Ryoga replied, probably buying into their story a little too easily.
"If it's so bad, maybe you oughtta' come with us!" Ranko offered, taking a step forward, clearly touched by their cries of anguish.
They flinched as if they had been flash frozen, their eyelids fluttered in confusion. "Eh...?" they gawked, not having expected them to be that moved by their little story.
"Yeah! I'm sure we could find a way for you to be safe from them!" Ryoga exclaimed as he offered an encouraging smile to the two lovely sixteen-year-olds. "I'll keep you safe!"
Marveling at the genuine act of kindness both Pink and Link found themselves enticed by his offer, having an almost heroic air to him. Before anyone knew what was going on both twins had affectionately taken one of Ryoga's arms.
"No wonder the redhead take this boy with her..." Pink commented as she swooned.
"Sister, we really mustn't…!" Link warned, falling under Ryoga's spell as well.
"L-Ladies! Please!" Ryoga panicked from the sudden intimacy, looking over his shoulder for some help from his friend. "Ranko!"
"Argh..." Ranko growled faintly as she clenched her fists at her sides.
"They're grabbing onto me! I swear!" Ryoga defended himself, reaching the arm Pink had taken out to Ranko, fighting back the nosebleed he knew was coming, as he was able to feel both twins' breasts pressed against his arms.
"Weren't we supposed to leave...?" asked Ranko as her aura flared to life. "We can't if ya keep grabbin' at 'im!"
"Y-Yes, silly us!" Link declared as she released Ryoga's arm and waved her hands out in front of her. "Sister, if you please!" she paused to look over to her sibling, seeing that she hadn't let go of the charming fang-toothed martial artist."Sister!"
"My apologies but the redhead's friend is so, so handsome..." the girl with the blue kanji symbol on her chest replied before releasing Ryoga.
"We ain't got time for this!" Ranko exclaimed before looking over at the sensible one of the twins. "You, what's your name?" she demanded.
"I'm Link and the one who was clinging to your friend's arm is my sister, Pink..."
"Ni hao!" Pink greeted while facing Ryoga, her eyes closed.
"I-I'm Ryoga!" he responded nervously.
"An' I'm Ranko..." she announced, crossing her arms, "and before we got anywhere with you two, first we gotta' know why..."
"I-It is a little suspicious..." Ryoga mumbled with a hitch in a voice as he moved away from Pink in order to be closer to his redheaded friend.
"We only want to spare others a life of servitude..." Pink and Link said in unison.
Their explanation was met with two stares from the two martial artists; however, the twins spoke with such confidence that Ranko felt herself believing the two. "So, are you guys leading the way or can we just book it from here?" Ranko asked with a slightly less sour disposition.
"Follow us!" they answered calmly before turning back to the window they entered from and leaping through it, one at a time.
Ryoga's face portrayed worry for his amnesic ridden friend but found that he just didn't know what to say, sighing after hearing her go through the window, 'I should've said something to calm Ranko down but...' Ryoga grit his teeth, cursing his bashful and inexperienced nature.
"You coming or what...?" Ranko asked while looking off to her side, looking as though she was pouting.
Ryoga looked up at the redhead before finding a small smile creep on his face, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled.
Gaining distance from Ginseng's store, the two twins led the two martial artists through various alleyways throughout the herbalist village, hopping over fences, hiding behind walls, waiting for anyone who could spot them to pass them by.
The party of four ran along an alleyway with Link leading the way with her eyes ever on the alert until they reached the end of the alleyway, coming across a rather large wooden fence at the end of it.
"We are here!" Pink & Link said, stopping to point at the very top of the fence.
"Just past this fence is the forest!" Link exclaimed.
"Go now! If you please!" Pink exclaimed as well.
"We can't thank you two enough..." Ryoga bowed his head as a sign of appreciation.
Link closed her eyes and gave Ryoga a warm smile, fanning her hand as a way to tell him that it was alright, "It's okay, now get going, if you please..."
Pink, on the other hand, gave a toothy grin before putting her hands on her hips and soaking in all the glory, despite this whole thing being some clever way of sticking it to the purple haired Amazon. "Good luck you two! Especially you, Ryoga..." she commented with a smirk.
Ranko and Ryoga were well aware of Pink's teasing by now but couldn't help but still had to feel a little flustered by her attempts. "If you're all done talkin'! Let's get outta' here before someone sees us!" Ranko muttered, feeling her patience and annoyance grow while in Pink's presence.
"R-Right!" Ryoga exclaimed nervously before looking at the twins once more and nodding his head, leaping to one side of the wall before bouncing off them and onto the top part of the fence.
Ranko narrowed her eyes a little before dashing towards one of the walls, jumping off them in the same way Ryoga had just prior, that was until she came across her second leap, "Dammit!" she exclaimed as she reached her arm out in an attempt to catch the top part.
"I gotcha!" Ryoga said, catching Ranko by her wrist before yanking her up to stand next to him.
"Thanks..." Ranko blushed in embarrassment before looking back to the two twins, seeing that they had already fled the scene she turned to Ryoga who had also looked. Sharing a moment of silence they looked to one another before nodding their heads, jumping down and into the forest.
----------------------------------------
Shampoo marched down the dirt path that led back to Ginseng's shop, arms to her sides, her steps brimming with focus and determination. Walking alongside her was Mousse, arms extended outwards to her, trying to reason with an Amazon and their pride, well, perhaps this one Amazon who choose to defy their ways.
"Shampoo... do you really want to fight them again? You felt firsthand how much stronger she was..." Mousse pleaded in an attempt to keep her safe.
"So you've already fought with the redheaded one?" Ginseng asked, surprised by learning someone could defeat an Amazon.
"It was pure luck!" Shampoo complained, not turning to look at Mousse.
"Hmm... I was indeed wise to use a paralyzing scent..." Ginseng mused while briskly following the two, humming to himself as he stroked his long, pointy beard. "Even then, they held out longer than most, they are indeed a resilient pair..."
"But you should consider it a bit…" Mousse insisted.
"I don't care!" She interrupted. "That fake woman beat me once!"
"Alright, then, if you're getting a rematch then I want one too!" He said giving up and decided fighting Ryoga along with Shampoo was his best option to avoid angering her and keep her safe.
"Truly Amazon blood runs deep in your veins," Ginseng stated with a clenching of his fist."If you're so determined to fight these two, please allow me to make the necessary preparations..."
"So you don't disappoint my Great Grandmother?" Shampoo asked before stopping at the front of the storeroom.
"But of course, Honored Great Granddaughter..." he bowed with his arms tugged in his sleeves, upon standing back up he retrieved his key and unlocked his door.
"How many times have you needed to do this for Cologne...?" Mousse asked, feeling that the old man seemed a little too used to this situation.
"Enough..." was his simple response as he leads the two inside the front of the store, searching through some shelves with his long boney pointer finger. The ends of his horn like brows curved outwards before curling back in into position, a content smile on his face.
Shampoo waited as patiently as an anxious child, tapping her foot repeated on the floor before looking back over to Ginseng who held a white candle in his hand before reaching for another candle, however, the second was white.
"Karma rewards patience, children..." Ginseng muttered with his eyes closed, making his way to the back of the room.
Mousse sighed deeply and took off his glasses, narrowing his eyes. "Let's do this..."
"You know the fact that you have to remove your glasses to look cool, makes you look less cool, right?" Shampoo asked criticizing Mousse's choice of actions.
"He has much to learn…" Ginseng commented as they reached the door, unlocking it with the same key had had just used earlier.
Shampoo rolled her eyes as Ginseng made his disapproval known with that comment, much to Mousse's dismay, 'Just when I think I'm making progress with her, I go and screw up...' he thought before hearing the sound of the door creak open.
"Aiya! Where did they go!?" Shampoo shouted, her eyes wide and in shock.
"What gives? Where are you hiding them, huh!?" Mousse demanded as he cast blame upon Ginseng, taking a step towards the elder as if he were sizing him up. "Did you let them go? Is this some sort of joke?"
"I-I can assure you I've done no such thing!" Ginseng stuck his hands in the air as though Mousse had pulled a gun on him, dropping everything he carried, his candleholder clanking on the ground as it fell.
"They escaped!" Shampoo accused, "your stupid herbal scent didn't work!"
"Honored Great Granddaughter! We have the finest of herbal essences in all of the region! No village in the Byankala mountain range has better medicine than us! Whatever happened, they were either carried out or cured!" Ginseng responded, standing up for the honor of his craft.
"They're outsiders! Who could possibly want to help them!?" Mousse demanded.
"I do not know!" he responded but right after felt his eye wander to the side. "Unless..."
"Unless, what...?" Shampoo pushed for him to answer.
"Tell me, have either of you wronged anyone here before, perhaps... recently?" Ginseng lowered his hands to his waistline before just letting them drop.
Shampoo fought to overcome her anger and frustration, taking Ginseng's words into consideration she paused to think, her eyes widened before she looked over her shoulder and in the direction of the front door.
----------------------------------------
Ginseng stood amongst his people, surrounded in what appeared to the very center of the village, his arms extended outwards as he spoke. "One of our honored allies has requested our aid! My fellow people of Yakusai, be aware of a girl with red hair and blue eyes! She is dressed in red Chinese silk garb! She's been seen traveling with a young man! Dressed in yellow! Perhaps you all recall! They had been browsing extensively! Spread this message and bring honor and favor to our humble village!"
His words resonated with his audience as they began to talk amongst themselves. Some already left to try and catch them on their own.
This pleased the experienced merchant, he hummed silently to himself as his eyes became half-lidded, 'I have done my part, I only pray that Elder Cologne does not seek to punish me or our village for losing those two while under my care...' he thought before shoving his hands up his sleeves.
"Shampoo! Wait up!" Mousse called out to his childhood friend while she leaped from building to building.
"What do you want?" she exclaimed as she landed in the middle of an empty street, turning around to see Mousse land behind her.
"Just fill me in! I know that look on your face!" he exclaimed, shaking his fists and parting his legs before sighing and dipping his head.
"Alright..." Shampoo muttered, clearly wanting to get back to the task at hand. "I remembered those plant witches! Find those two!" she shouted before ascending to the nearest home.
"I knew you shouldn't have talked to those two..."Mousse said, shaking his head.
In what appeared to be another narrow alleyway the two sisters rested their backs against the walls across from each other, hands near their mouths as they suppressed fits of laughter.
"I bet when she finds out she'll say... Aiya! Where did they go?" Pink mocked as she took on a bad impression of Shampoo, clapping her hands together.
"And her stupid friend with the stupid glasses will say... What gives? Where are you hiding them, Ginseng!?" Link joked while making circles with her fingers around her eyes to emphasize Mousse's spectacles.
"Do you really think I sound like that!?" Shampoo shouted as she landed on the twin's right.
"Ah!" both twin's screamed in horror, clinging to one another as they tried to put some distance between them and their tormentor.
"Stupid glasses, huh!?" Mousse asked, landing just behind the two girls.
Dark shadows hung over Shampoo's and Mousse's eyes, cracking their knuckles, watching as the two clearly unprepared sisters suffered a panic attack at the unexpected ambush.
"Wait, just listen to us!" the duo screamed yet again, Pink watching Shampoo while Link stared at Mousse.
"We'll listen as soon as we do this," Shampoo sentenced grimly.
And so…
"Ugh!" Pink and Link groaned as they hit the ground, covered in scratches and a few bruises.
A few minutes later…
"Master Herbalist Ginseng! We've caught the ones responsible for this whole mess!" Mousse said as he tilted his head down and glared at the two sisters.
The Master Herbalist twirled around to see the twins, "You two would dare to bring shame upon our village by conspiring against the Amazons!?" Ginseng's voice boomed as he spoke to the two.
The twins flinched immediately, closing their eyes, being unable to defend themselves due to the circumstances. "A thousand apologies Master Ginseng, but we simply wanted revenge for all the acts of violence the honored Great Granddaughter has done-"
"I do not care! You are beneath her status!" Ginseng interrupted. "Such acts of treason are often met with death!"
"Please! All we wanted to do was to live without fear of-"
"Silence!" Ginseng commanded, shutting the two sisters up. "If you two were not such gifted pupils I would see to it that you were hanged for your actions!"
"W-what will become of us...?" Link asked uncertainly.
Ginseng turned to Shampoo and bowed his head, putting his hands to his sides. "Please allow my two wayward students a chance to redeem our village in Elder Cologne's eyes."
"What!?" they exclaimed before turning to look at Shampoo.
Shampoo pondered the idea for a second, giving Pink and Link a cold stare.
"Perhaps their services could prove useful in your search, Honorable Great-Granddaughter?"
"I'd say this sounds like a fair punishment," Mousse stated, lowering his head. "Plus maybe provide us with some supplies for the long search, I mean, it's probably the least you can do."
"Of course! I'll have my maid fetch some traveling supplies and rations for your journey!" Ginseng spoke quickly as he then looked to the twin herbalists, sighing in disappointment. Couldn't these two understand how fearsome the Amazons could be? Angering the Amazons was almost as bad as crossing the Musk Dynasty!
----------------------------------------
Running as fast as their legs could carry them, the redhead and Lost Boy dashed through the forest as fast as they could, Ranko leading the way as her arms swung to her sides. "Ryoga!" Ranko exclaimed, looking at her friend.
"Yeah?" Ryoga asked, looking at redhead from the corner of his eye.
"I don't want anything to do with these Amazons or Herbalists!"
"Especially since we know now that they're so bad they even have their own servants acting out!"
"I don't know about those two! Something about them felt really off!"
"What do you mean?" Ryoga asked.
"Just sumthin' about em', their whole trying to 'spare us' thing, felt like some kinda' play or something!"
"Are you saying they were lying about their reasons for helping us?"
"I'm just sayin' that they probably got some kinda' scheme in the works!"
"Are you sure about that? Why go through all that trouble?" Ryoga asked, his curiosity peaked as well as the fact that Ranko did have a point. "Come to think of it, wouldn't they have had some kinda' bruises or something if they got beaten...?"
"Especially ta' the point of backstabbing..." Ranko pointed out.
"What should we do now?" Ryoga asked as they continued to cover more ground.
"I don't know! For now, let's just look for a cure elsewhere! Far! Far away!"
"Guess we don't have a choooooice!" Ryoga's voice echoed as he fell into a pit, his voice suddenly sounding as though it was being smothered in his sleep.
"Ryoga!?" Ranko's eyes widened, hitting the brakes so hard her flats actually made a light screeching sound. "Ryoga!"
The redhead ran frantically back to where her friend fell. 'Please don't be a pit of spikes!' she thought desperately, squinting her eyes once before opening them to see the lost boy was struggling against some sort of sticky vine net. He was tangled in a funny way, however, his arms trapped and the lower half of his face covered by the vines.
"Don't worry man! I'll get you ou-" A small gnome sized shadowy silhouette conked Ranko in the back of her head, and she fell to her knees with a thud before hitting her side.
Ryoga fought against his restraints and with all his might he was able to dislodge the corner of his lips.
"Ranko!? Ranko!? What's wrong!?"
Darkness was the only thing that Ranko could see, it felt as though her eyelids were just too heavy to move, almost like they were weighted down or something, 'Where am I...? Ryoga... Ryoga... oh wait... wasn't he...?' Ranko's inner voice echoed in her mind.
"...Ranko..."
"Huh...?"
"...Ranko...Ranko... please!"
"Please... please what?"
"Silence... she's coming to..."
Ranko found her eyes opening gently to see that she was bound by her arms and legs, her back against a hard surface as she was sitting, "Huh..."
"I see you're finally awake..."
"Ranko! You're alright!" Ryoga exclaimed as he sat next to her, his bindings were noticeably thicker than Ranko's.
"Quiet boy! I told you I was pretty sure I hadn't hit her that hard!"
"Argh... my head..." Ranko muttered as she squinted her eyes once, feeling a stinging pain shoot throughout the back of her head. "Who're you supposed ta' be...?" Ranko asked, narrowing her eyes with distrust.
"I don't think either of you are in any position to make demands, so, I'm afraid I'll be the one asking the questions around here..." she replied, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply before blowing out a puff of smoke from her pipe.
"What do you want...? She's obviously still a little out of it!" Ryoga defended.
"Now perhaps your friend here will be more cooperative..."
"Huh...?" Ranko paused, blinking as she got a good luck at the woman that had captured them.
She was about the same size as Cologne, but that was all that she had in common with the aged mummy. Ranko could see her reflection in her rectangular reading glasses, but she was still clearly able to see how serious this woman was taking things.
"Who are you two and why have you invaded my territory...?"