Lost Together
By:
Dr. Fox
Chapter 3
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It hadn't been too long since their encounter with the Musk warrior but our wayward duo ventured forth on their journey for truth. The blue skies began to wane as the sun reached the horizon. They paid it little mind as they continued to traverse the land until they reached the end of a sloped hill. Ranko stopped to inspect how they'd get down, until she saw Ryoga from the corner of her eye, looking towards the setting sun.
His hand came up to his face and guarded his eyes as he looked towards the sun, "Sure is nice… isn't it?" Ryoga commented as he smiled softly.
"Like to take time and smell the roses, eh?" Ranko jokingly questioned as she stood next to him, 'Why not? Been a crazy day…' she thought, seeing that the sun was falling to the point it was safe enough for her and Ryoga to look at.
Ryoga's eyes wandered over to the redhead beside him, 'Tomboy or not… she's still really easy on the eyes…' he thought before looking away and gluing his eyes to the ground. He awkwardly took a step closer to her, the action alone triggered Ryoga's heart and a nervous sweat to break out.
Her actions told him that she wasn't actually paying attention to her surroundings but rather doing as Ryoga had suggested, taking in the moment.
Seeing that she wasn't about to comment on the fact that he had gotten closer, Ryoga felt his heart return to a normal rate, 'I should probably enjoy the view…' Ryoga thought. "There's just a better one right here…" he said, accidentally speaking out loud.
"H-huh?" Ranko blinked as she looked over to her traveling buddy and saw that his smile was warm and welcoming.
"D-did I say here? I-I mean there!" Ryoga said, panicking as he pointed in some random direction, which, was also conveniently the way they'd need to get down safely.
"A way down! G-great!" Ranko announced as she pointed to the rocks that would allow them safe passage, 'He was looking at me… did he seriously compliment me or… the view?' she thought frantically.
"Let's go!" Ryoga was laughing nervously as she leads the two down.
"L-let's!" she said somewhat nervously as well.
Despite avoiding eye contact or conversation as they walked, they were soon unable to ignore that it was getting quite dark out. Ranko had finally gotten her breathing to a tolerable feeling. Their situation had been so awkward that the two had done everything they could to continue traveling as much as possible.
After roughly an hour, it was about time they had gotten themselves composed. They were unable to ignore one thing though, the fact that they had been going around in literal circles.
"Isn't that the same tree we saw just a little while ago…?" Ranko commented.
"I guess it's too dark for us to see where we're going…" Ryoga said as he looked around.
"Let's set up camp I guess…" Ranko started until it dawned on her. "How big was your tent, again?" she asked.
"It's enough for the both of us but…" he started only to look away from Ranko. "I'll sleep outside." he announced making it clear he wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.
"You sayin' I'm not tough enough to rough it outside?" Ranko accused with a quirked brow.
"It's not that… we barely know each other and sharing a tent could be…" Ryoga replied hoping that Ranko would get the message loud and clear.
"Oh! We-weird, yeah, I get it…" Ranko answered, feeling a little weird now as if she almost wanted to spend the night next to Ryoga with the possibility of her and Ryoga getting close while they slept.
"And about the princess, thing…" he began but stopped as he pushed some leaves out of the way before turning around to speak and stare in bewilderment.
"Yeah…?" Ranko hummed.
"Whoa…"
"How does-" she turned to see where he was facing, seeing what he was staring at in such a stupor. They had stumbled upon a perfect camping spot with tall trees and quite a few rocks almost set up like furniture given their size.
A gentle river accompanied the stone decorations a little further ahead of the two; the noises around them sung a warm and romantic tune that felt almost magical. If only the two in such a place weren't so busy staring in shock as the moon even reflected from the clear water in front of them.
"Huh… this place might be a little too good…" Ranko said in awe but the kind where you're completely scared.
"Y-yeah… awfully… n-nice…" he faked coughed as he put his hand just beneath his mouth, avoiding eye contact least he let the romantic allure of their surroundings take him.
Ranko and Ryoga's eyes resembled little circles with no pupils to their eyes. It literally felt as though they were one step away from playing romantic music.
"I'll get the firewood!" Ranko declared, marching with stiff robot like steps.
Ryoga quickly dropped to a knee and began unpacking camp, "I'll set up camp!" he exclaimed with a nervous smile.
A little time had gone by and Ryoga was seen sitting on his knees, placing a teapot on a wooden stand. A small pile of wood stacked next to him as he stood up and put his hands on his hips; looking around for his backpack.
All seemed well until Ranko tripped on a rock while walking over, causing her to let out a brief shout, only to feel Ryoga's hands meet her from underneath the pile.
"I'm sorry! It looked like you were going to fall, so, I just… acted…" Ryoga looked to the side as he blushed a little and stepped away from the redhead.
"Nah, thanks actually…" Ranko replied but then dropped the wood right next to where Ryoga was seated.
"You're welcome," Ryoga said going back to sitting on his knees as he picked up a cup of instant ramen, peeling back the lid enough to allow them to pour water into it.
"So, remember that thing you were trying to tell me about?" Ranko inquired while plopping herself down and watching Ryoga peel another lid back.
"About treating you like a princess, I didn't mean to… well, I guess I did, but what I meant to say-" he started going on a tangent before getting cut off.
"Just spit it out already…" Ranko muttered, rolling her eyes as she waited for him to answer.
"I-I'm sorry…" Ryoga began and felt shame for not having respected her wishes; this shame was expressed in the form of him bowing his head. "I'd like a re-rematch if you're okay with that," he offered with uncertainty written all over his face.
"You mean you're actually going to swallow your pride and fight me like a man?" Ranko asked, skeptical, of course, but seeing the seriousness in his eyes she could only see that his words mirrored his inner feelings as well.
"After our last fight together, I'd be stupid to underestimate you…" Ryoga countered.
This caused her to smirk, lowering her head with her eyes closed. "About time ya' got serious…"
"Maybe I want payback for all these rib shots, Ranko…" Ryoga said, swearing that her mood was somewhat contagious as his smile quickly grew into a strong smirk.
The fire that sat between them reflected in their eyes as she sized the other up, a powerful need to fight overtaking their senses. It was at that moment that the teapot began to whistle loudly, catching their attention.
"Ya gonna' get that or keep staring like you got something to say?" Ranko asked seemingly mocking him.
Ryoga felt a rush flow throw him, he wanted to fight the girl across from him but eventually came to realize that he was feeling hungry, his stomach beckoning to him with a low rumble. "G-guess I'm hungry…" Ryoga admitted, blushing with a nervous smile as he began pouring their water into their instant ramen cups.
"Ha! Feeling hun-" she paused as her eyes went, her own stomach calling to her loudly enough for Ryoga to get an earful.
"You were saying?" Ryoga smirked as he finished pouring her ramen cup, sitting up a little he handed it over to her.
The redhead took her cup, suppressing a warm laugh with her hand over her mouth until she felt the cup's warm surface touch her bare hands, looking as though she had stubbed her toe, she flinched a little before straightening herself out.
"You okay?" Ryoga gave Ranko a quizzical stare.
"Y-yeah, it's just I-I'm really hungry…" she lied her voice coming out a little strained sounding, 'Did he nuke this thing or what!?' she thought frantically trying to keep her pain from being apparent.
"You're really that hungry, huh?" Ryoga blinked as he turned to his side and dug around in his traveling gear.
She brought her cup down near her pants leg and breathed deeply through her nose, 'I'll let it cool… damn it Ryoga, how strong is the fire?' she thought begrudgingly as the burning feeling gently went away.
"Here, I have a bag of trail mix…" Ryoga said, tossing her the clear plastic bag filled with assorted nuts and crackers.
"Finally! Thanks man!" she said, taking the bag and undoing the knot that kept it sealed.
"You're welcome; just try not to eat the bag…" Ryoga commented, seeing how she almost tore it with her teeth to open it.
"Yeah-Yeah…" Ranko repeated with a dismissive hand, reaching into the bag and dumping some trail mix into her maw, chewing with her eyes closed as she savored the feel of food once more.
"I'll wait… it doesn't take too long…" Ryoga commented as he looked at his cup and stared at it, his stomach betraying his sentiment as it demanded he provides it sustenance.
"Here!" Ranko said, giving him a heads up as she crammed a whole bunch of trail mix in her mouth before giving the bag a weak knot and tossing it over.
"Thanks…" he smiled as he closed his own eyes and followed Ranko's example.
"It's your food, shouldn't be thankin' me…" Ranko said while still chewing, being very unladylike.
"Alright, I'll get us some chopsticks…" Ryoga said blinking after swallowing and then looking down his backpack, retrieving two pairs of disposable chopsticks. "Here!" Ryoga warned before he threw them.
She caught them effortlessly with one hand and then paused, she looked over to the lost boy and watched as he tore the plastic around his disposable chopsticks, 'I can't wait to see it scorch your tongue…' she thought while ripping her sticks out, expecting for Ryoga to learn a harsh lesson.
Instead, he held it with ease and even peeled back the lid entirely to start blowing on noodles about twice he closed his eyes and began to inhale the starchy but delicious soup. Her eye twitched as she then looked at her own cup, reaching down she took it in her hand and felt herself cringe a little, 'W-wait? It's too hot for me but easy for him!? Is there something wrong with me?' she thought before taking her utensils and pulling out some steam covered noodles, eyeing them for a second before blowing as much and as quickly as she could before taking a bite. "Hm…" she hummed, narrowing her eyes as this appeared to be relatively fine.
"Don't like it…?" Ryoga wondered given that her look was less than satisfying.
"I do! Sorry, I think I'm just…" Ranko sighed before shaking her head and closing her eyes, 'It's stupid anyway, maybe I'm just allergic to something and brook out…' she thought, trying to pass it off as her just being overly sensitive.
"I-I get it, not something you want to talk about with me…" Ryoga said bashfully as he looked down to his ramen and stirred it without really taking it out to cool.
"It's not like that, can we just drop it…?" she asked, looking to him and hoping he would do just that.
"Alright then…" Ryoga said looking her in the eyes, giving a small smile in hopes to liven the mood.
Ranko stared at him until she noticed the little fang poking out from the corner of his mouth, 'Huh, that's kinda' cool lookin' and c-cute…? Maybe? He is a guy and girl's usually like guys so…' she thought, somehow finding it hard to admit that, even in her own mind. The reason for that? She wasn't entirely sure. "Thanks…" she said, offering an awkward smile in return.
He nodded his head before going back to eating; they ate in a relatively peaceful silence. For them, it was nice to just sit and eat together. "So, when exactly do you want to fight?" Ryoga asked, chewing and then swallowing his noodles.
"That's a secret…" Ranko replied as she finished blowing her noodles a few times, her eyes closed.
"Really? Going to trick me into another surprise attack?"
"I dunno know…" Ranko said, playing innocently with a rolling of her eyes and a mouth that looked as though it was stifling a laugh.
"I'll make sure to keep my guard up…" Ryoga muttered with an awkward smile.
Eventually, they finished eating and grinned in satisfaction. "I think I'm going to rest up for the night…" Ryoga yawned with his eyes closed; hand over his mouth as his eyes slowly started to close.
"Been a hell of a day…" Ranko commented as she put her cup down to her side as she burped a little.
Ryoga scuffed at her outburst but couldn't help but smile, 'Ranko's the only girl I can just be myself around, this is nice, even if she's kinda' like a jerky guy…' he pondered briefly before looking towards the nearest tree and leaping up onto it.
Ranko sighed as she allowed herself to be given the tent this time, she rolled her eyes as she watched him grab onto a branch and then hoist himself onto it, 'This guy needs another tent, finding this Yakusai place is turning out to be a real pain in the ass…' she thought as she looked at the tent she had been lent.
She got on her knees and crawled into Ryoga's tent when she looked inside she focused her eyes to see a large sleeping bag. Given who it belonged to, she wasn't too surprised. "Figures… he wasn't kidding about it having enough room for two people…" she commented, envisioning see-through versions of herself and Ryoga in the sleeping bag while Ranko's interpretation clung to his arm.
Slapping herself, she shook her head, 'I-I don't even know who I am! It's not fair to the guy! Geez!' she thought to close her eyes."I'm probably tired, y-yeah, that's it…" she mumbled to herself while unbuttoning her shirt and revealing the muscle shirt she wore underneath.
Ryoga was sitting on a thick branch, with his arms crossed over the other, "I wonder how long I can keep this up…?" he asked the stars as he looked to them for guidance. Getting no answer, he sighed deeply, letting his eyes close as he lowered his head.
A bird tilted its head as it looked out into the distance while hanging on a thin branch until the tree beneath vibrated hard enough to frighten it away. Way down near the roots, below the branch the lost boy had been sleeping under, was said lost boy.
"Ah…" Ryoga groaned as he sat up and rubbed his cheek, feeling that he was grinding bits of dirt and pebbles from his face. He lowered his head and began dusting his face off.
Now feeling sore and catching something that smelled of noodles and sweat, he raised his arm and sniffed himself. "Bleh!" he groaned in disgust before sitting up and looking around, spotting his equipment, 'What about Ranko? Is she…?' he contemplated before looking at the sky and seeing the sun had yet to completely rise.
Taking a few awkward steps to Ranko's tent he stopped as he blushed and closed his eyes, 'I'm not doing anything wrong, j-just making sure she's still asleep…' Ryoga thought as he stood as though he were a soldier being told to stand at the position of attention. "Ranko, you awake?" he whispered as he leaned his ear towards her tent.
A snorting sound was emitted from a soft but familiar voice before sighing contently and ruffling around, most likely some tossing and turning going about.
"…cute," he mumbled softly closing his eyes, he straightening his posture. He went over to his bag before kneeling in front of it and digging around in it.
Raising as though Ranko had come straight back from the dead, she sat up with a slight case of bedhead, smacking her lips a little she yawned loudly before stretching her hands over her head. Her stretching would have to wait, her stomach once again yearned for attention by making its majestic call.
"Hungry…" she groaned with shut eyes, immediately crawling out of her tent to calm down her hunger.
Scratching an itch on her stomach she walked towards the last place she remembered seeing the lost boy, with her head arched back she called out: "Yo! Ryoga! Mind if I get something to chow down before we try fishing or something?" she shouted as she raised one hand to the side of her mouth. Not getting an answer Ranko finally noticed Ryoga wasn't where she saw him last.
"Ryo-?" she began and then looked down to the ground, she noticed an indent on the ground that was roughly Ryoga sized. "Heh… knew that'd happen," she said looking over with a slight chuckle, 'Now where'd he get to?' she thought, her head shifting to her left first and then to her right, where she spotted something further up the river.
"Is that a… rope tied to a tree?" she muttered before following the line. She traced its direction and saw that it had gone above a small rock formation. 'What is this? Some trap to catch fish or something? Did Ryoga make it or something?' she thought as she used the rope as a way to hoist herself up.
On the other side of the rope, the lost boy had finished splashing some water onto his face, his rope in the water going up the near rocks, "Huh?" he wondered as he felt something jerking at the rope attached to his foot.
"Ryoga!?" Ranko gasped as she climbed the top of the boulder, her eyes landing directly on the lost boy's pelvic region.
"Ranko!?" Ryoga screamed in surprise as he did his best to cover his shame, only to drop that the moment he saw his friend lose her balance and fall into the river he was bathing in. "Ranko!" he cried, forgetting the fact that he was naked he tried to reach out to her.
She emerged from the water, gasping for air but just in range to get front row seats to the show she accidentally intruded upon, not knowing that her friend wasn't the only one giving her a private show.
"R-Ranko your-" Ryoga began but found his voice fading as his nose spewed out blood like a geyser at Yellowstone.
"My? You're-wait!?" she looked down to see that her muscle shirt had gotten so wet that her oversized undershirt was now exposing her bare breasts. "Ah!" she screamed, trying to cover herself only to feel a shift in the water as a blank-eyed Ryoga flopped down above her.
A loud splashing sound echoed throughout the area, scaring away a flock of birds.
An endless darkness surrounded Ryoga's vision, however, his mind did not register anything. His mind could not wander; all was black as if he were unable to think. Gradually, his senses returned to him and the first things that came were the sounds of a crackling fire and some noises from the distant or near wildlife. It was then that his nose caught something, which awoke Ryoga's primitive survival instinct.
"Is that…?" Ryoga sat up and looked at him, realizing he was in his tent, he noticed a few things. First off he wasn't fully dressed and in nothing but a pair of pants, secondly, wasn't he in the river? He would have considered the situation longer but his stomach hit him with a crippling wave of hunger.
From outside the tent, Ranko had been sitting down while stirring the embers of the fire with a stick, her lips pursed as she appeared to be incredibly concentrated on this one simple task. "Should be done in a little…" she mumbled, sounding way too serious for something as keeping the fire lit to cook their fish.
Ranko began to feel bored. Her eyes landed on her stick, once she looked down closer to the shaft she was holding she stared at it for a moment before feeling a blush cross her face. Casually, she threw the stick away but not near anything that could start a fire, one of her eyes twitching. "Huh…?" she swore she heard gasping nearby and came to a stand, swallowing hard and marching over to the tent as her companion came out from it.
"H-Hey Ran-"
Was as far as he could get before feeling Ranko's palm slapped him across the face, "Watch where you're fainting, stupid!" Ranko exclaimed, her cheeks a deep shade of red as she put her hands on her hips.
"It's not like I have any control of that!" Ryoga shouted, defending himself and rubbing his sore cheek.
"That was because after you fainted, you landed on me, ya know how hard it was helping you without lookin'-" Ranko choked as she closed her eyes and wanted to shake the visual from earlier from her mind.
Ryoga's face was much like Ranko's at the moment, embarrassed and shocked, 'She saw... my…' he thought, needing a second to absorb this information. "L-Look I'm sorry…" he began but stopped to see that Ranko's eyes had traveled down to his pectorals.
He would have continued to push his apology but saw that after her awkward stare she wasn't having any of it, given how she had just looked away before stormed over to the fire to sit down on a rock, crossing her legs. "Get a shirt on, would ya'!?" Ranko demanded with a slight hitch in her voice, one hand on her hip before plopping her chin in her palm.
Ryoga looked at the back of her head, looking deeply ashamed of the image of Ranko's busty pillows flashing in his mind, 'Don't make things any worse Ryoga… calm down…' he thought as he tightened his lips and took a deep breath, going over to his backpack to complete the rest of his outfit.
Nothing could change what had happened earlier, all they could do was eat in silence. Occasionally they'd steal glances but would ultimately part before evading each other's sight.
In hopes of controlling her thoughts the redhead closed her eyes and focused solely on the now-cold roasted fish on a stick she was eating, 'It was an accident, I walked in on him but still…' she thought as remembered how she had dragged him out of the water and onto the ground right next to the river, 'It's normal for a girl to-to look at those… right?' she thought nervously as she stopped eating while the incident played out again.
Ryoga sat with his legs spread but firmly planted on the ground, one hand on his knees as the other lazily held his stick with his already half-eaten meal, 'Damn it… what do I say aside from sorry? S-She should have called out to me!' he thought to scrunch up his face as his mind wandered back to when he had seen Ranko's breasts; instantly, Ryoga's one free hand jumped up to his mouth and near his nose as he covered his nose.
Luckily for the Lost Boy, Ranko was paying him no mind as she had her own internal struggles to cope with, 'I dun even have many memories to work with and now with t-that-!' she thought furiously trying to shake the visual away, slapping the sides of her head.
One thing kept crossing Ryoga's mind, what had she thought of his lower head, not in a sexual sense but it was a matter of manly pride, 'What did she think!? Why did that have to happen!? She isn't laughing… so that's a g-good sign, right?' his inner voice asked his conscious mind. "L-Look about what happened, Ranko!" Ryoga began, finding that being left to his thoughts was actually worse than actually not dealing with the issue.
"Save it! Please!" Ranko shouted, warming him with a flustered expression."L-Look… Ryoga…" she sighed deeply right before she began. "Can we just pretend that this didn't happen, 'kay? I don't even know who I am and I don't know what to think about something like…" she was unable to finish, looking away.
To think she'd let this go that easily; the relief that overcame him was enough to make him smile since before the incident. "I understand, we should get back to traveling anyways…"
"Y-yeah, we oughtta try following the current or sumthing'…" Ranko suggested, maintaining her composure.
"Sure…" Ryoga replied, nodding his head.
Ryoga hoisted his backpack up as he turned to the redhead he had come to know, perhaps a little more than he should have but that was of little importance now. They had more pressing matters to attend to. Finding the one place they needed to get to Yakusai.
They began their journey once more, however, and while Ryoga lead, Ranko couldn't help but purse her lips together before lowering her head. "I'm sorry I walked in on you bathing and…"
"O-oh! T-thanks! Same to you…"
"I just gotta' know…" Ranko's eyes looked upwards until rolling around to look at her friend.
Ryoga became as stiff as a piece of two by four, uncertain as to where a conversation about them being naked would get him into, "Y-yeah?"
"Why'd ya' tie your leg to that tree?"
"T-That…" Ryoga paused, taking a second to think, 'Dammit! What do I say? Come on! Think!' he thought, cursing his luck internally. "Thing is… I did that because…" he swallowed hard.
"Uh-huh?" Ranko ushered with a nod of her head.
"I… can't swim, so, it was to make sure that the current didn't surprise me…" Ryoga answered with a nervous sweat at the corner of his head.
"H-huh… guess that'd work and I'd be close to…" Ranko said, looking away from Ryoga. Uncertain as to what to say about that, 'Least the guy's cautious…' she thought as she went back to looking to the river while walking.
Glad to see that things had returned to normal, Ryoga followed the redhead since they were following the river anyway.
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The Musk castle was located near the base of a tall mountain, and it was surrounded by a town which was in turn split in two by a set of walls. Martial arts masters and male students resided and practiced in the innermost circle, while married men and women resided in the outermost one. This was to keep young men separated from women and thus focused on the art until they finished their training and could find a wife. It had been the way of the Musk Dynasty for generations.
And at that moment a meeting in the palace's elegantly decorated audience hall was taking place, one that would have severe consequences later on…
"You were forced to flee the battle?" An old, wolfish man asked, staring at the two boar trackers currently kneeling in front of him. "That is extremely shameful!"
"Master Sumac, the girl was very crafty and strong, she managed to drop a house on me!" One of the boar trackers said, not daring looking up at the Musk noble.
"My cousin is right, the girl is a surprisingly good fighter and the boy… there's something odd about him. His ki is different from a normal human's," the second tracker provided. "It actually reminded me of…"
"Reminded you of what?" The one called Sumac asked, intrigued by this new information. He was aware of the thief's identity and the importance of what she stole but didn't know she had received external help. This bothered him greatly as she was not known to have any male friends or remaining family. Who was helping her, a suitor perhaps? That would only complicate matters much more and that was something he certainly did not need.
"Of the hunter families in the dynasty," the tracker said, "the big cat families to be precise."
"That's impossible, we would know if one of them were helping her. Besides, all members of the hunting families are here and accounted for, still…"
"What is it, master Sumac?"
"Nothing that you should be concerned with," the old man said. "You are dismissed, for the time being, I'll call you if I need your services again."
Once alone, the old man walked to the large open window in the audience chambers and leaned on the windowsill, surveying the village around the Musk Palace. He knew for a fact no member of the feline families had abandoned the Dynasty recently but he had just recalled an incident. Seven generations ago, a member of the Lion family who disagreed with the training methods of the Musk decided to abandon the village and he was never heard of again.
"Perhaps one of his descendants, but that couldn't be," the man mused as he scratched his chin in thought. "It must be someone else, for sure."
Deciding he would worry about that later he focused on the task at hand, which was finding and retrieving both the girl and the ring. And since the boar trackers had failed once already he wouldn't bother calling them again. For this task, he'd need someone better, and who better than the members of his own family? The Wolf clan produced the best trackers in the Dynasty, after all.
"This should be a good test for my grandson… but I'll ask Mint to take Lime with him, just in case the man helping the girl is really that strong."
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Meanwhile, far from there…
"Well, asking them wasn't productive at all," the woman sighed as she sat next to her companions. She glanced back and shrugged as she noticed how the farmer she had been talking with retreated into his home, obviously not wanting to even see her anymore. This wasn't unusual, though, a few farmers tended to be wary of Joketsuzoku Amazons, and she was already used to it.
"They didn't have any information, I gather?" A second woman asked.
"None," said the first. "It's the fourth farm today and the result was the same: nobody has seen a redheaded teenager around here."
"And we haven't found anything else that could hint at her camping anywhere, it's as if she vanished," said a third Amazon who fumed in clear frustration. "This assignment is impossible!"
"Tell that to Cologne," the first Amazon rejoined, shuddering as she thought of what the powerful elder would do to them if they failed.
"Let's not think about that, where are the others, anyway?" the second Amazon said. "They were supposed to be here already."
"They said they would look for leads down the river, I think it'd be best if we go and meet them there," the first Amazon said.
Deciding that was their best chance, for the time being, the Amazon trio got up and headed for the river near Joketsuzoku, hoping that their friends had been luckier and had good news to deliver.
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At the same time, in a different location…
Mousse sat under a tree, waiting in the shade while Shampoo examined their surroundings, searching for clues that would lead them to where the redhead went. She had asked him to stay there, and as he lacked Shampoo's tracking skills (since he never needed to or particularly cared about learning how to track people in a forest), he had agreed.
The young martial artist had been working on other means of finding people though, and as he grew more and more bored, decided to practice his new trick a little. Mousse closed his eyes, focusing on Shampoo's ki signature since he knew it well enough and after a few seconds of concentrating, managed to locate her. He estimated she was about twenty steps to his right, very close to a massive tree down the road that he could also somewhat feel. He put on his glasses and looked in that direction, smirking in triumph as he confirmed his assessment had been correct. This ki locating skill his father had taught him would be very useful once he had fully mastered it, and should help him avoid losing his way even without his glasses. All he needed to do was to keep practicing it as much as he could, and he would do that as soon as Shampoo's quest was complete.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
It would have been very unfortunate if he had gotten distracted by something else that would force him to drop this particular technique, however. This thought reminded him of the current situation: If this Ranma interloper had been a man when he defeated Shampoo she would have been forced to marry him, and that would not only mean Mousse would have a competitor, it would mean he'd have to stop practicing the ki locating technique in order to focus on getting rid of this hypothetical rival.
'It's a very good thing she was so upset after being defeated that she decided to see him as a woman instead of as a man,' he thought. 'Otherwise, things could have gotten ugly.'
Mousse got up and started walking towards Shampoo. He had realized how lucky he'd been and also understood he had been lazy, taking Shampoo for granted for far too long. It was about time he stopped trusting his good fortunes and really started working on his goal of making Shampoo fall in love with him.
"Want something to drink?" He offered as he produced two water bottles from under his oversized sleeves. "It's getting kind of hot, don't you think?"
"Yes, thank you," she said and offered him a polite smile as she accepted the water. "I think I found something here; if I'm correct, she ran in that direction so it should be easy to locate her. If all goes well, we'll find her in two days at most."
"Excellent, shall we go, then?"
Shampoo nodded and picked up her backpack. "Yes, the faster we find that annoying fake girl, the sooner I can fight her and end all this mess."
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And back in Joketsuzoku…
Cologne closed the door, locking it and wondering if it was worth doing it. She was convinced the man they kept there was skilled enough to escape if he wanted to and that troubled her a little bit. While she knew for certain she could easily defeat this Genma Saotome, she was also aware he could possibly best the majority of the adult Amazons in the village in combat if he had to, so why was he being so passive about his imprisonment? Was he really that confident his son would rescue him?
"He certainly seems to be convinced Ranma can do it," the ancient Amazon reflected as she moved through the village. "Hmm… it doesn't matter; once Shampoo or the others bring the boy back, we will see what to do. It would be best if his Ranma marries my Shampoo, but if that can't be then we must find another way to introduce the Saotome bloodline into the village"
Cologne was still thinking about this by the time she arrived home and had started considering that since marriage would probably never be on the table then perhaps other options could be explored. She decided that asking or otherwise convincing the boy to spend a few nights with a willing Amazon his age until the pregnancy was confirmed as a valid, viable option and if that wasn't possible then perhaps the boy's father could provide for an almost as good substitute.
"Ugh… I actually find it difficult to believe there are two or three adult Amazons who truly think this Genma Saotome is attractive enough to pernoctation with him for more than just motives of procreation," the elder muttered with disdain. Still, the chance to add a strong lineage to the village when encountered was almost an imperative for Joketsuzoku, and Cologne had already decided she would not let this opportunity to strengthen the Amazons escape her.
"But we don't have the herbs needed to prepare the lust potion we would need if things go that far and I hope they won't, but it never hurts to be prepared," the elder thought with solid determination. "It seems I'll have to call Ginseng. I'm sure his grandchildren can bring me those herbs tomorrow if I ask him now."
And so, Cologne sat next to her old rotary phone and called her good friend Ginseng, a wise herbalist who also happened to be Yakusai's current leader…
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To say that the last few days spent traveling down a river was an exciting one? That would be lying in Ranko's book. If she had one it'd be the centered around the frustrating fact that they hadn't made much progress, if at all. Right after they finished their discussion, so to speak, they had remained relatively quiet. That was until the third day where they were still following the river.
Ranko vacantly stared at Ryoga's backpack as she followed him, "It's been how long since I've met this guy and we're still not near anything!? Geez! Either I'm unlucky or he's lost, if only China wasn't so damn huge…' she thought, crossing her arms and humming to herself.
Dipping his head the Lost Boy considered their food situation as he clenched the straps to his sides, 'We're running low on food, might have to start hunting again…' Ryoga thought.
Reaching behind her head with both hands Ranko continued walking, humming in annoyance as she saw nothing but forest and the river next to them, 'Maybe I could think about things if I had more memories to work with, maybe I should talk about something…' she pondered as she took a deep breath and let out a sigh, still feeling a little awkward about before.
Right now that only thing that was plaguing Ryoga's mind was whether or not Ranko would keep traveling with him if he told her the truth, 'Maybe I should be honest…' he thought for a moment before he envisioned the possible outcome.
"Ranko, I've been leading us through China while I'm directionally challenged…"
"You lying sack of-!"
"Ranko! Y-you have to understand!"
"What!? That you're some weirdo with a bad sense of direction trying to help by getting me even more lost! I'm outta here! A-And another thing! I wish I never saw you naked!"
Eaten up by his guilt he had begun to walk vacantly, his anxiety-ridden mind was actually using so much mental energy that his only present functions where to walk and stare vacantly while he fully absorbed this in his overly imaginative daydream. Almost as if he instantly teleported away from Ranko he bashed his forehead against one of the trees near them.
"What!?" Ranko stopped to question what Ryoga was doing, turning back around as she had absent-mindedly continued walking. "How ya' holding up there, pal?" she asked cautiously as she turned around and hunched over to see his face.
"I-I'm f-fine, this is n-nothing!" Ryoga exclaimed, not expecting her to get so close that his hands warded evil.
"It doesn't seem like nothing…" Ranko commented, giving him a questioning gaze.
"Ran-Ranko! Really! It's-" Ryoga's eyes widened as he spotted something in the distance by the way his eyes widened.
"It's what?" Ranko's lifted a brow before following his eyes.
"An Inn!" they both happily cheered as little ways further was a bridge and beyond that was a dirt path that leads to a building that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than an Inn, given the hanging sign just above the door.
"Race ya!" Ranko declared, taking the lead.
"No fair! I've got all our gear!" Ryoga exclaimed, being so delighted they had found some form of civilization, the challenge didn't really upset or annoy him but rather it caused him to smile.
When they reached the inn they could see that it was a good, old, two stories tall building, though, from the looks of it, there weren't many rooms to spare given the overall size of the building. They happened across a sign over a window outside but obviously, neither could read it. Furthermore, the curtained window would have stopped them from peering inside.
Ranko was the first to reach the front of the house, coming to it from the west side of the building as she came to a screeching halt. Her friend coming to a halt shortly after, although perhaps not as abruptly as the redhead.
"And Ranko takes the win!" Ranko cheered.
"Next time we race let me drop the bag…" Ryoga said with a smile and a chuckle.
She paid him no mind and walked up to the front door, though, she paused for a moment. "I just realized sumthin'…"
"Yeah…?" Ranko blinked, a little surprised to see her stop.
"What if no one here can speak Japanese?"
"I hadn't thought of that…" Ryoga agreed, his mouth going slightly agape as he didn't really have a solution to this dilemma.
"Here goes nothing…" Ranko said before reaching for the door handle.
"你好?(Hello?)" An elderly woman in a lavender kimono with a peacock nestled atop a beautiful boutique of flowers for its design theme, her gray hair rolled up into a tight little bun.
"Hey there… do you speak Japanese by any chance?" Ryoga called from over his shoulder as Ranko had just taken a step back.
"Oh! I is knowing little Japanese, we terribly sorry to say but all our guest rooms are taken…" she replied, bowing her head and trying to dismiss the two.
"W-wait! Come on! You don't have anything?" Ranko asked.
"Is you having any yuan?" she asked as she took a step back from the door and place a hand on her chin.
At that moment the two had felt despair overtake them, Ranko looking over her shoulder to the Lost Boy only for him to meet her gaze and shake his head.
"No. I'm sorry, we don't…"
"No yuan?" she hummed and then smiled softly."You two is very lucky! We short on help, so, if you want stay, we need help with repairs around Inn and I is needing one more maid, our other maid get sick…"
"Guess I'm helping with repairs then!" Ranko said almost casually with dead looking fish eyes, flat out refusing to work as a maid.
"You are being too funny!" she exclaimed as she took Ranko's hand and dragged her away.
"I mean it! Come on! I don't wanna'!"
"Is only position! He no wear maid uniform!" she laughed while looking over her shoulder. "Where are manners? I is Lady Chuntao, wait here boy!" she cheerfully shouted before running to the front counter and going behind it to the back room.
"S-So we're starting right now? O-okay… sorry, Ranko!"
"I don't know how Ryoga but this somehow your fault!" Ranko shouted just because she didn't know what to do. "How are you so damn strong!?" Ranko screamed as the door to the back closed.
"Name is different but pretty!" Chuntao commented.
"Have fun…" Ryoga's face had been like a double-sided mask with how quickly he went from nervous, then immediately annoyed looking when hearing her just drop the blame on him.
"Why is you wearing boys pants? Too loose for maids!"
"Wait! No! Lemme' go!" Ranko shrieked from the other side.
Ryoga shook his head with a chuckle, making his way over to a chair in the lobby, dropping his bag in front of it before turning around and dropping himself down. He noticed the very light dragon designs in the room, more specifically the dragon carvings on the support beams, 'I wonder what they call this place? Probably 'The Sleepy Dragon' or something…'
----------------------------------------
Being pulled into a decorative dragon themed office room with a single filing cabinet like she was a piece of luggage, Ranko seized her struggle once they made it past the front of the metal office table before just allowing herself to be dragged off.
"So are we heading to the changing r-room or what?" the redhead asked before she looked up at the sign above the room they were heading into next, of course, she wasn't able to read it.
"No! You need something very important!" she exclaimed before leaving Ranko into what she could only assume to be an employee washroom before shutting the sliding door behind her.
It took Ranko a whole second to fully understand what Chuntao was subtly hinting at. "Hey!" she screamed turning around and stomping her heel, effectively being told that she stinks.
"Could have just said I needed a bath or sumthing'…" Ranko said only to recall her time with her ramen cups and Ryoga, her mouth dropping open.
"Guess now's as good as any to figure this out… maybe I don't stink as bad as she thinks!" she said almost frightfully feeling as though she were about to break out in a nervous sweat, she looked to the clothes bin right next to her before sighing and lower her head, starting by unbuttoning her shirt.
"When you is done! Maid Uniform be left on bin out door next to chart!" Chuntao called to Ranko before walking over to the office room table and taking a seat on a simple wooden chair with a green silk cushion on top.
"Yeah-Yeah!" Ranko's voice echoed from the washroom as the sound of running water filled the room. She sighed and tested the water. She flinched a little; as she imagined, the water was boiling. She had to experiment a little, but managed to get it cold enough to be tolerable; that done, she proceeded to bathe.
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"你是誰？你不知道我們過夜了嗎?(Who are you? Don't you know we're full for the night?)"
"H-Hey there! I'm sorry but I don't speak Chinese…" Ryoga said, looking away from a raven-haired beauty that had vanished into another room by now.
"Oooh! I is thinking you were Japanese, so, why exactly is you here, boy…?" the medium-sized man in dark brown overalls said as he pulled on his shoulder straps before reaching for his straw hat and tipping it.
The Lost boy appeared relieved to see that he could talk more or less well enough with this man, "Me and my friend you see we're looking for supplies but you can probably tell we're not from here and we don't have any money…"
"Aiya! You is new help? Chuntao hire you?" he asked putting his hands on his lower back.
"Y-Yeah! You know her?"
"Knowing her? She Huan's wife!" he paused and looked up, stroking his long but scruffy looking beard.
"O-Oh! Nice to meet you! I'm Ryoga! I'm here to help with repairs!" Ryoga exclaimed, standing up and bowing his head.
"Good! We needing help! Many repairs to get to, what size overalls you wear?" he questioned, humming to himself while continuing to stroke his chin.
"Overalls?" Ryoga blinked, not really horrified just uncertain.
"No is worrying! Huan is having spare overalls for work!"
"Is ready! Is so pretty!" Chuntao's voice echoed from behind the front counter as a dragging noise was heard.
"H-Hey! Why are you pulling me to the front!?"
"So boyfriend see how lovely you is looking!" Chuntao exclaimed as she looked over her shoulder and saw Ryoga, she then smiled at her husband.
"W-what!? You got the wrong idea!" Ranko exclaimed as she stood as stiff as a board.
Chuntao immediately darted behind Ranko and pushed her forward with her odd amount of strength, "No be shy!"
"R-Ranko?" Ryoga stared as he had when seeing that other girl but to see his tomboy of a friend dressed in a silk Chinese shirt with matching pants, coupled with a frilly apron only enhanced the girl's already attractive qualities.
"Q-quit staring so much…" Ranko urged while blushing, shivering a little felt a chill and crossed her arms to rub the back of her arms.
To Ryoga, it was like staring at a piece of art, the way Ranko's sapphire eyes went along with it all caused him to stutter from how loud the beating in his chest had become."Not bad, it looks g-good on you…" Ryoga lowered his head a little and blushed, clenching his fist trying to not make the girl feel too awkward.
"I know I do…" Ranko commented somewhat playfully, trying to make it seem like a friend messing around with another.
"Ohh…" Chuntao moved away from the two and went over to her husband, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"提醒你一些東西?(Remind you of something?)" he asked, looking down to Chuntao as she looked up to him, giving him a gentle sound before nodding.
Ranko and Ryoga stopped to look at the old couple to ask what they were talking about since neither knew exactly what they said but given the romantic air between the two, they were pretty sure they were somehow the cause of this moment between the elders.
"S-shouldn't we be working?" Ranko crossed her arms then cleared her throat.
"I wouldn't mind getting to work if that's okay…" Ryoga swallowed.
"Oh! We is having to make deal!" Huan exclaimed, bashing the side of his fist into his palm.
"Is right! We no have many yuan right now but we can maybe give supply and place to sleep?" Chuntao asked, smiling as she held her hands together.
"We try to make more yuan to pay you two!" Huan added.
"We be needed in kitchen! Ranko come!" Chuntao exclaimed as she grabbed the redhead by her wrist and began to run off with her, moving so quickly that her feet kicked up a little dust.
"So where do we start?" Ryoga looked at the elderly man, who also watched as his wife dragged Ranko off to work.
"We be starting on roof… but first, we be getting work clothes…"
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From that moment forward both Ranko and Ryoga found themselves at the mercy of their new employers. Ryoga working on replacing the roof shingles as he was dressed in brown denim overalls with one of his yellow sleeveless shirts under it. Opposite to him was Huan as he was hunched over hammering in a roof shingle, nails in his mouth while he made a steady but slow progression.
"Hm…" Ryoga narrowed his eyes as she sat on his knees and raised his hand over the nail he was keeping steady, quickly he brought his hammer down on the nail, moving his hand out of the way as it made contact and then some as the hammerhead went into through the roof, 'Gha! I smashed it through!' he thought as he panicked and saw Huan popping his head out up from the other side.
He turned around and put his hands behind his back, conveniently covering the hole as well, putting up a convincing smile for him not to assume anything was wrong before going back to work, much to Ryoga's relief.
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Peeling what felt like way too many potatoes the redhead stood bored in front of a wooden prep table, Chuntao a little further into the room was stirring a pot. Ranko found herself going back and forth various times. "Geez, this took awhile…" Ranko muttered to herself as she pushed some vegetables off her cutting board and into a pot, wiping her brow after.
"Is good job you do!" Chuntao said as she prepared some noodles.
"Mind if I air myself out? I'm sweating…" Ranko asked, using her hand to fan herself.
"Is okay! Hardest part over!" she exclaimed as she dropped some seasoning into noodle bowls.
Ranko bowed her head once and sighed contently, going to hanging her apron on a nearby rack, exiting through the back door.
Ryoga sat with his legs sprawled out, tying his headband back on as he stood up, inspecting his work. "Huh…?" he paused to notice Ranko stepping out from the back and watched as she undid the button to her silk dress.
"So many boiling pots…" she muttered as she took her shirt off, holding it in one hand, stretching her arms up and pushing her chest forward a little to pop her back.
"Is you okay…?" Huan asked quietly as he saw that Ryoga had fallen on his back with a nosebleed.
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After cooking and working for what felt like forever to the two teenagers, they were finally being led to their room by Huan as he carried a lantern to light their way. "Is good days work…"
"Man, that took forever…" Ranko muttered as she tried to keep warm.
"We are working at an Inn…" Ryoga added, shivering ever so slightly.
"You is staying in warehouse, Chuntao leave things for you in warehouse… so you have good night!" Huan said, before digging into his overalls pocket and giving the key to the redhead.
"Yeah… night…" Ranko said as at that precise moment a piece of wood from the side of the building fell off and onto the ground.
"I'm guessing this place will be on the list of things here that need repairs…" Ryoga commented as he sighed and made his way inside, opening the door and stepping in.
The two entered to see a very dirty looking room, filled with spare logs, one big pile of hay and finally a small one person bed that was pressed against the wall. In the center of the room was a light hanging from the ceiling.
"Where did she say she left the stuff?" Ranko asked with her eyes closed, yawning shortly after, hand over her mouth.
"Don't know…" Ryoga muttered with some bags under his eyes as he walked in and looked around; getting far enough in the room that he was able to see his traveling gear behind the pile. "Found it. It's behind this soft hay bed…" Ryoga commented before allowing himself to flop onto it.
"Stop treating me like I'm special, I'm taking the hay…" Ranko muttered as she allowed herself to follow Ryoga's example and flopped face first into the hay as well.
Their argument had been a short one as they had grown tired for the night; soon, sleep's gentle embrace took them.
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Rays of sun poured into the room as the two young martial artists slept. Ranko hadn't budged during her night's slumber but Ryoga had actually turned himself over, resting on his back.
"Mmm…" she hummed in her sleep and found her eyes squinting as she became more aware of her surroundings and the sharp bits of hay that poked at her face. "Ugh…" she groaned, looking around to see that she had fallen asleep on the hay.
A soft snoring sound caught her attention as she found the source, "Ryoga? Hey man… wake up…" she said in a low and tired tone, a yawn accompanying her demand.
His eye twitched while his face tightened, his snores coming to a stop as his eyes fluttered open. "Huh…" he looked around until spotting Ranko.
"Hey there, farmer Ryo…" Ranko gave a groggy looking smile while she laughed lightly.
"What do you-" he tried to ask until he noticed something was bobbing up and down in his mouth, some hay. "Oh…" Ryoga joined Ranko's laughter.
A new day was born and Ranko and Ryoga kept working as they had the day before. It had been relatively uneventful, save for a few mishaps that were dealt with relatively easily. It was as it had been the day before, exhausting and as if to make matters worse it had started raining at about the time the two were supposed to finish working.
"The best way to end the day…" Ranko commented as they reached the front door, drops of cold water bouncing off her head.
"Least this is our last day here," Ryoga said with his eyes practically closed.
"Those two are slave drivers…" Ranko groaned as they reached the same straw bed.
"Night…" Ryoga said before turning around and flopping onto his back.
"Night…" Ranko mumbled before flopping face first onto the pile with Ryoga.
Drifting off to sleep neither noticed the sound of thunder rumbling out in the distance, far too tired to exercise any level of concern or awareness to care. Sometime after the rain outside grew in tempo, clapping loudly and somewhat violently.
Ranko began to stir a little, her eyes squinting while she tried to remain asleep. "Mmm…" she moaned as she gently and tiredly opened her eyes to see that Ryoga had pulled her in to snuggle with him. 'Ryoga… him and me… heh…' she thought with a small smile, losing it right after as her face relaxed and her eyes closed again.
Darkness was all that Ryoga's inactive mind could perceive at the moment, that was until he started to wake up, 'Weird… it feels like someone is holding onto to me… but it's not bad…' he thought as he opened his eyes only see that his assumption was correct.
"Oh… it's Ranko, that's nice…" he mumbled before trying to go back to sleep.
It was then that Ryoga's mind flipped the switch on in his brain as he tried to flinch away from her without being noticed.
"My pillow…!" Ranko squinted with a frown until her own mind awoke.
"Ah!" they screamed at the same time.
"I'm sorry! I didn't-" Ranko began and then shook her head, avoiding eye contact as she thought back to earlier, 'That wasn't a dream? Are you kidding me!?' she desperately thought.
"I'm the one who should say I'm sorry!" Ryoga offered at nearly the same time as Ranko, not listening entirely as his mind attempted to defend itself, 'Why was she snuggling me? Did I pull her to me in my sleep!?' he thought frightfully.
"I'm gonna' go get changed…" Ranko said, with wide eyes as she cleared her throat and stood up, hurriedly dusting her any hay off her Chinese silk dress.
"I'll go after you…" Ryoga said with a hitch in his tone and an ever-present blush.
"Hell of a way to start the day… Ranko's the first girl I've ever cuddled with, but…" Ryoga thought as he fell backward, staring at the ceiling; his mouth went agape with realization and he laughed nervously, 'I got to wake up with a girl in my arms!' he thought with a silly looking but happy grin that stayed with him for the rest of the day.
Finally, that afternoon, with the repairs completed. Ryoga and Ranko finally said goodbye to Huan and his wife, returning to the road with both a small amount of Yuan and clear directions on how to arrive at Yakusai.
"All things considered this wasn't so bad," Ryoga said.
"It wasn't, and we even got some money!" Ranko agreed with a pleased grin.
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Her sword broke after blocking a hit from the heavy morningstar her opponent was using, so she quickly discarded her now, useless weapon and prepared to try an aerial attack but didn't get the chance. His left fist impacted her torso and drove the wind out of her, knocking her on her back. Surprisingly, though, the punch hadn't hurt, it just left her windless. As impressive as that was, however, what truly surprised her was that she hadn't seen him move. Just how fast was he?
"…You cheated!" Shampoo complained after sucking in a deep breath, her hand still over her abdomen as she looked up at Mousse. His silhouette was dark as the sun slowly set behind him, and she had to narrow her eyes to make out his face.
"Did I?" He said while he put his weapon back inside his sleeves, "how so?"
"You used a heavier weapon," she said sourly as she got back on her feet. "I am sure you wouldn't win if we fought for real, I promise you that!"
"Perhaps I'll ask you to have a real fight one of these days, then," he countered.
"You would lose in less than a minute," she boasted. "I was holding back, you know?"
"Funny, I was holding back as well," Mousse answered with a defiant smirk. "You'll just have to figure out how much."
Shampoo was too surprised by his claim to think of a response and simply watched as her friend, sometimes suitor, made his way back to their tents to start a fire, which he then used to heat some water. The young Amazon could do nothing but stare for a few seconds, wondering just how strong Mousse really was. If he had been honest and didn't fight all out during their training session, then he clearly outclassed her in both speed and strength, leaving only skill as the area where she felt she was superior to him. Or was she?
'When did he get so strong?' Shampoo thought and decided that he had earned a little more of her respect just then. 'Still, strong or not, he's truly awful at cooking from what I'm seeing.'
"Stop, those vegetables won't cook well if you cut them like that," She said, kneeling at his side and taking away the chopping block from him. "If you want to help go and bring more wood while I cook us dinner."
"…Are you sure?" He asked, confused by her offer, as so far they had each cooked their own food. "Why are you doing this?"
"You earned it," she said and then added. "You did give me a good workout back there."
"Oh… well, thank you Shampoo, I really appreciate it." Saying this, Mousse walked to the nearby forest and soon the sound of metal on wood was heard.
'His family does live right outside the village,' she thought as she distractedly stirred the vegetable stew and reached for some dry noodles to add to it. "And that technically makes Mousse an outsider, so if he challenges me to a fight and he wins I'd have to… marry him."
"I think this should be enough to keep the fire going all night," he announced, placing several branches and pieces of wood next to his tent and interrupting Shampoo's trail of thought as he did so.
"Oh… yes, thank you," she said, feeling both a little flustered and thankful for the interruption. She stared at him as he removed his glasses and dried the sweat off his brow with a rag, realizing he wasn't bad looking without those things covering half his face. He was manly, too, or at least close to what she considered manly. Shampoo stirred the soup and frowned, she was thinking of Mousse as being almost handsome now. That was certainly not something she needed, but…
"Perhaps it isn't that bad, is it?" she wondered in contemplative silence.
"It smells really good," he observed as he sat cross-legged to her right. "Thanks for doing this, Shampoo."
"Don't mention it," she said, feeling a little shy all of a sudden. "It's… it's not just for you, this is my dinner, too!"
"I'm still glad you cooked," Mousse said as he adjusted his glasses. "So, where should we go now? We've been at this for days and all the leads we found went pretty much nowhere."
"Yakusai," She said. "It's the only village close to this area and chances are she went there. It's the only logical conclusion."
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"We're all set now," Ryoga announced as he swung his backpack over his shoulder. "Are you ready?"
Ranko, who had been lazily observing the surroundings from a tree branch above him, dropped down when he called. She yawned and stretched her arms above her head as she approached and gave him a nod.
"Took ya long enough, I almost fell asleep up there."
"Well, it would have been faster if you helped," he said with false irritation, feeling now comfortable enough around her to tease her like this.
"But I did help."
"All you did was fold your sleeping bag," he reminded her with a scowl.
"Oh, don't complain, aren't you a big boy?" She asked, though she quickly realized what her words could also mean as she recalled seeing his glorious nude body in the river. She had to lower her face for an instant then, hoping to hide her blushing cheeks from him.
"Ahem… anyway, Ryoga, today is the day we arrive at the Herbalists' village!" She declared ardently to hide the way the certain memory of a certain naked teenager had made her feel. "Ain't that right?"
"Yes, of course, we will!" he agreed with a smile, finding her enthusiasm contagious.
"Excellent, let's go, then!"
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A few hours later…
Ranko felt bored. Sure, she was glad they were making progress and would reach their destination soon, but the conversation had died down between her and Ryoga and she simply wouldn't risk them walking in silence, as she feared that would let her mind wander back to certain events in a certain river. Recalling then what she had done a few days ago, she stopped to pick up a bunch of pebbles from the side of the road.
"What are you going to do with those?" Ryoga asked.
"Something fun, you'll see," she said as she gave him half of the little rocks.
"I fail to see how this is fun."
"They're for a game, you dummy," she said with a smile and pointed at the trees along the road. "I bet you can't hit as many branches as I can! So… wanna play?"
"No, not really," he said, staring at the rocks with an uncertain frown.
"Pleeeease, Ryoga?" She asked getting close and looking at him with glimmering eyes, as she suspected this gesture was something he couldn't resist.
The boy flustered at her innocent display of coquetry and felt his resolve melt. He just couldn't say no if she asked him that way. "...F-fine, I'll… I'll play."
"Yay, thank you!" Ranko smiled openly and started walking again, making sure to stay close to him so she could see when it was his turn. "I'll go first, ok?"
"Be my guest," Ryoga said and looked at her as she shot one of her rocks and flawlessly hit a branch, snapping it in half. He wasn't really paying attention to her remarkable aim, though. He was instead mesmerized by the sound of her voice and the way the sun made her hair shine. She was so pretty… it was almost unreal.
"Your turn," Ranko announced. "I betcha can't do better!"
"Well, let's find out," Ryoga said, then shot and missed, his rock hitting a fat tree, ending up embedded in the bark.
"Wow… that's… that's actually very impressive," the redhead admitted. "But we did agree to hit branches so that one doesn't count!"
"Meh… I did hit the tree, though. Fine, I'll hit a branch next time!"
"You better, I'd feel bad beatin' ya if you can't," she said, shooting a second pebble and snapping another twig. "I never miss, you know?"
A few minutes later, the score was fourteen to five in Ranko's favor. As she had predicted she hadn't missed once, while Ryoga had proved accuracy was not exactly his forte. He had managed to hit all the trees, but little else.
"I think we should stop, there's no way you can tie the game," she said, dropping the remaining rocks she still carried. "I'm surprised you hit five, though."
"I could have done better," he sighed. "I'm more used to hit moving targets."
"What do you mean?" Ranko asked feeling honestly interested in his words. She really couldn't help it, she was naturally curious and Ryoga had turned out to be not just a good friend, but a truly fascinating person. She actually didn't mind learning more about him.
"I've had to hunt a few times before when I ran out of food," he explained absentmindedly, tossing the pebbles to the side while dusting his hands. "Animals don't normally stand still too long for you to hit them so I use my bandanas like boomerangs to intercept them, but you have to calculate where they'll jump or run. It's different from trying to hit something that doesn't move."
"So that's how you hunt," she said staring at him, paying attention to his arms and hands and finally settling back on his face again.
"He… he's so reliable, isn't he?" She thought to admire him discreetly. "He always sets up camp. He got us those jobs back at the inn and was able to learn how to fix that roof and help with other chores so quickly. I was lucky I met him and… I wonder if other girls would think he's handsome. Wait… what am I thinking, now?"
"Ranko, look at this!" Ryoga, who walked a few steps ahead and had focused on keeping his eyes on the road to avoid stepping out of it, was now standing in front of a wooden sign, and he appeared to be very happy.
"What?" she blinked, shook her head to clear it from thoughts concerning him and stared at the sign. The redhead felt a smile coming, for the sign said this:
[Yakusai, 10 Km. Ahead]
He chuckled and smiled at her, feeling pleased that once again he had managed to make her happy. It seemed he was on a roll, doing the right things one after the other that day.
"That's very close; we can get there this afternoon if we hurry!"
"I know; we can finally find you a cure and then we'll go find your family."
"Yeah! About time!" Ranko grinned. "I can't wait to remember everything about my past! I'll know who my mom and dad are and if I have brothers or sisters, and I'll remember if I have a…"
"A what?" Ryoga asked, truly interested, wondering why she suddenly stopped.
"A… a home… here, in China," she said after realizing she was about to mention if she had a boyfriend or a special person; but for some reason she didn't really want to mention that to Ryoga so she instead told him something else she had also wondered about: if she spoke Japanese and knew zero Chinese, then why was she here in China? She really wanted to know that, too.
"Maybe, or maybe you and your parents were on vacation or on a training trip, who knows?" Ryoga mused. "Anyway, we'll know for sure soon enough, right?"
"Right!"
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Two hours later…
"The town must be just on the other side of this hill," Ranko deduced, stopping to rest a bit. "And we can't get there fast enough!"
Ryoga nodded and waited until she started walking again to follow her since that was the only way had had of not getting lost. He was wondering if the herbalists in Yakusai would have something to cure his horrid sense of direction, and if they did, he hoped it wasn't expensive because he was planning on paying for Ranko's medicine before thinking on a cure for him.
Ranko was anxious and just couldn't wait for them to reach the village. Her thoughts were similar to Ryoga's and she was currently hoping the money she'd earned working in the inn would be enough. She had gotten a few good tips from some guests, but maybe the medicine would be too expensive. She really hoped it wasn't.
They reached the top and she looked ahead with a satisfied smirk. Just as she had announced, Yakusai was down there, waiting for them. It took days, but she would finally have a cure. She was hoping that with this she could locate her mother; Ranko just knew her mom must be worried sick about her. She couldn't explain why, but she felt more pressed to find her mother than her father, though she reasoned that was because she was closer to her than to her dad.
"We be too, too lucky!" A voice announced right behind the redhead. A voice she didn't really want to hear.
Ranko quickly looked back and found, as she expected, the blue-haired Amazon from a few days before. But she wasn't alone; behind her, a tall teenager wearing glasses and a strange robe with oversized sleeves stood. Great, she had brought her boyfriend with her to lend a hand, just what she didn't need!
"Shampoo knew you come here!" The Amazon grinned. "This time you be defeated!"
"I assume this is that violent girl you told me about?" Ryoga said reaching for his umbrella, preparing to fight in case things came to that.
"Yes, she's the one," Ranko confirmed. "But now I'm ready!"
"Oh, we be seeing!" The Amazon laughed. "This time you no escape!"
"I don' wanna fight you," Ranko said, keeping her guard up. "I just wanna go to Yakusai, but if ya get in m'way then you'll be sorry!"
"Shampoo no rest until you is defeated!" The Amazon swore. "We is fighting now!"
"She's not alone anymore," Ryoga interrupted, much to Ranko's annoyance, and stood between the two girls. "If you want a duel, then at least have the decency to wait until Ranko is cured before you present her a formal challenge."
"You is lying, she no sick!" Shampoo spat. "Move, umbrella-boy, or I move!"
"I suggest you let the ladies fight," Mousse intervened then, also taking a step forward. He kept his hands under his sleeves and his eyes fixed on the other boy.
"What if I don't?" Ryoga challenged.
"Then I'm afraid I'll have to make sure you don't interfere with Joketsuzoku business."
"And I don't need you to butt in on this!" Ranko said, slapping Ryoga's shoulder so he'd stepped aside. "She surprised me before, but I'm sure I can kick her butt!"
"Less talk, more fight!" Shampoo exclaimed and producing a heavy pair of chúi, she dashed at Ranko with the intention of smashing her into a pulp.
"Fine by me!" the redhead said, dodging the Amazon's first strike with a quick spin she effortlessly followed with a chop aimed at the heavy mace Shampoo had tried to crush her with.
Ranko's counterattack proved successful, as she managed to force Shampoo drop one of her maces. Unfortunately, this only made the angry Amazon redouble her efforts, trying harder and harder to hit the evasive redhead.
"Stop moving!" Shampoo shouted, frustrated by her opponent's superior dodging abilities. "Fight serious, you!"
'Wait, was she always so slow?' Ranko wondered sidestepping another attack, swiftly avoiding the heavy mace and noticing how easy it seemed to anticipate every movement the Amazon attempted. 'No, she's not slow. I am faster.'
Infuriated by her lack of success and understanding she was not going to hit her target like this, Shampoo decided to change strategies and tossed her chúi at the aggravating redhead, forcing her to duck, which was just what she wanted. Taking advantage of this she dashed under her adversary's defenses and with a quick spin managed to slam her leg on the redhead's torso, sending her tumbling to the other side of the road.
"Ranko, no!" Ryoga shouted, taking a step towards his friend, but Mousse quickly blocked his path.
"I told you, don't interfere. If you do, there will be consequences," he warned.
"Get out of the way, idiot!" Ryoga growled and tried shoving Mousse to the side, only to be hit with an iron ball in the chest. The surprise attack was strong enough to floor him, something that convinced him to take his opponent seriously.
"Idiot? I am Mousse, a master of the hidden weapons!" he stated, smirking at his fallen adversary as he retrieved his iron ball. "Now stay out of this or you'll get hurt!"
"The only one getting hurt here will be you!" the young Hibiki swore, jumping to his feet and throwing several punches at Mousse that hit nothing but air. Surprised by this, Ryoga paused to consider his strategy while staring at his rival, finding it difficult to believe there could be someone around their age faster than Ranko.
"Don't make empty threats!" Mousse said as he unleashed a barrage of chains with the intention of restraining Ryoga until the girls had finished fighting.
"Ryoga Hibiki never makes empty threats!" he announced and leaped over the incoming chains, raising his umbrella and swinging it as he descended, aiming to flatten Mousse so he could assist Ranko.
Mousse, who had anticipated this, dropped the chains and pulled out a pair of large swords from his sleeves, bringing them up to block the attack; what he did not anticipate, however, was how strong Ryoga was, and while he did catch the umbrella between his blades, it didn't do him any good. His steel shattered on impact and Ryoga's weapon smashed Mousse straight in the face, effectively knocking him out in one hit.
In the meantime, Shampoo, who trusted Mousse would keep the fake girl's friend from interfering, resumed her attack after sparing an instant to look at how the fight between the boys was going. Feeling confident, she decided to end things with a jumping kick aimed at the redhead's face.
Ranko regained her breath fairly quickly and was back on her guard in only a couple of seconds. She threw a glance behind Shampoo and noticed Ryoga was now occupied dealing with the Amazon's boyfriend so that meant he wouldn't get in the way. She liked that, it meant she would be able to fight on her terms. That was when her blue-haired adversary jumped in her direction.
'Fool, that's not gonna work,' Ranko thought, and feeling certain she could outmaneuver Shampoo in aerial combat, she too jumped in her direction.
Ranko had no trouble calculating trajectories and intercepted the Amazon just as she was at the peak of her jump and before she extended her leg. Not giving Shampoo the chance to defend, Ranko grabbed her by the shoulders and used this to push herself up, violently slamming her right knee into the Amazon's face as she did so. The end result was simple, Ranko landed perfectly on her feet, while Shampoo fell unconscious to the ground.
"Hah! I knew I could win!" Ranko boasted with a grin, looking back at her defeated adversary. She then heard the sound of something breaking and turned right, just in time to see Ryoga defeating the Amazon's boyfriend. "Not too shabby, Ryoga..."
"Never mind that," he said, looking at her with worry in his eyes. "Are you hurt?"
"Nah, she just got a bit lucky, I'm good," Ranko said standing straight to prove it. "And you?"
"I'm alright. He was very fast but not so strong," Ryoga explained. "You know, Ranko? I thought these guys would be stronger."
"Yeah, me too," she frowned. "I wonder why I thought she was so scary before."
"Probably has to do with your amnesia," he theorized.
"Prob'ly," she agreed, crouching so she could look at the defeated Amazon. "I kinda feel bad leavin' them here'n the middle of the road like this."
"We can move them over there under that tree," Ryoga said after looking around and noticing two large backpacks. "It seems they left their gear there."
"Good idea, let's do that," she said but then frowned when Ryoga moved in to pick up Shampoo, something that made her cringe in a way that really bothered her even if she couldn't really understand why. "What the hell are you doing, you idiot?"
"I thought we were going to move them?" He asked, straightening and wondering why Ranko seemed so upset. "I'll carry her first and then…"
"You go and carry that guy!" She interrupted, staring at him with an angry frown. "Geez, why you hafta go and try ta pick her up? Girls don't like men they don't know grabbing them and stuff!"
"Oh…" Ryoga scratched the back of his head and then nodded. "I guess you're right. I'm sorry. I'll let you carry her."
"Yeah, you better," Ranko huffed, arms crossed as she looked how he picked Mousse up and started walking left instead of right. "Hey, Ryo!"
"What?"
"The other way?" She said, pointing at the correct spot where the two Amazons had left their bags.
"Oh, sorry, I was distracted," he said, chuckling nervously, turning around and walking in the right direction, making sure the backpacks in question never left his sight.
Ranko sighed, wondering why she'd felt so upset when she saw Ryoga was about to pick up Shampoo. Something about him holding the other girl bothered her, and she couldn't figure out what it was. Was it… jealousy?
'Nah, that's just stupid. I am not jealous!' she thought as she carried the unconscious Amazon to the side of the road. 'That's impossible.'
"Think they'll be alright here?" Ryoga asked.
"Uh? Why wouldn't they?"
"Someone could come and steal their things, or something."
Mousse and Shampoo groaned before moving a little.
"Seems ta me they'll be fine," Ranko said. She eyed Ryoga and wondered if he was worried about the Amazon, an idea she found made her feel sick.
"Good, I think we should…"
"We have to go, Ryoga."
"But… why?"
"There's no need for us ta stay here!" Ranko said with a clearly upset tone. "If we do they'll try ta fight us again and I don' wanna waste time!"
"That may be so, but…"
"Ugh, fine, stay here if you want, I'm going to Yakusai!" She said and with an angry huff, started marching in the direction of the Herbalist village.
Ryoga blinked, confused by his friend's behavior and wondering what he should do. If he stayed chances were he wouldn't be able to find Ranko again and he really didn't want that. He had promised he'd help her and that was still his main priority. Feeling a little bit ashamed of abandoning Mousse and Shampoo in this condition, but pressed by his previous commitment to Ranko, the young Hibiki hurried to her side.
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A few minutes later…
Mousse shook his head to clear his thoughts. Last he remembered he had been fighting a very strong man with a very potent and quite unusual ki signature. Struggling to his feet, he noticed then Shampoo was still unconscious, but her breathing was even and she moved her legs and arms from time to time, meaning she would be awake soon.
"Ryoga Hibiki, huh?" Mousse muttered as reached for his spare glasses. "What an interesting person… I wonder if he's related to them."
"What… what happened?"
He turned and kneeled to help Shampoo sit up. "We lost."
"I can see that," she said with an angry frown. "I don't like it."
"I don't like it either," he admitted.
"Bah… it doesn't matter. I have friends in Yakusai," Shampoo recalled with a mischievous grin. "We'll get them there."