DaisukiFox: Here's chapter two! We hope you guys enjoy it!
Disclaimer: Dr. Fox(both of us) do not own Ranma in any way shape or form. Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz media.
Lost Together
By:
Dr. Fox
Chapter 2
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To travel the vast forests of China with a blind sense of direction was often viewed as a suicidal act, but to Ryoga Hibiki, this was nothing but a stroll; that was until hunger set in. Those were his most vulnerable times and he hoped that they didn't come across anything too dangerous on their trip to Yakusai. Though he felt like there were butterflies in his stomach, it still felt as though he had an uneasy feeling around her, but not in the sense of a male being attracted to a female, the reason for this uncertainty remained unsolved.
Ranma, or Ranko as she thought of herself now, walked with her hands in her pockets and couldn't help but glue her eyes to the ground. She was still very much perplexed by her current predicament. Not to mention the convenience of it all! She was a girl with martial arts skills, lost in a forest in China, traveling with a boy who was obviously on some sort of quest and no doubt trying to help Ranko because she appeared to be the damsel in distress.
Even though she didn't want to play that role, she still liked the company, she was human and needed interaction of some sort, any kind in fact, but did it have to really be with a boy she barely knew? If only to add to this strange dilemma he seemed interested in her, in the sense that a boy with a crush would have on some school girl; that led to some very important and uneasy questions... did she have a boyfriend before all this? Did she use... feminine products on herself? Had she ever been with a man? Had she been into girls in her old life? She was rather tom-boyish after all.
She stopped dead in her tracks when the feeling of being with anyone made her queasy, coupled with the fact that she might have used all those 'feminine' hygiene products. "Eh..." she groaned, placing her hand on her stomach and narrowing her eyes in a very flat line sort of way.
Ryoga stopped to look over his shoulder as his hands were behind his head, looking confused. "What's wrong, Ranko?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, blinking.
Once she met eyes with him she found herself feeling flushed, not sure if she found his posture cute or normal. There was so much confusion in her mind since she still questioned her gender and why she seemed so bothered by the few common things about women. Force was needed to obtain her composure and she even forced her thoughts, instantly going back to thinking she was some strange girl with a tomboy perspective of life.
"N-No! J-Just wonderin' bout' you is all!" she said, hoping to make the conversation about him, maybe to take her mind off her own issues.
Ryoga paused before reluctantly deciding to answer; it wasn't every day that someone found him interesting. That was due to the fact that he was never around anyone long even to develop a relationship in which to have discussions, such as this. "T-There's nothing special about me. I'm just a martial artist on a journey..."
"O-oh? Martial artist, eh? Ya' any good?"
"Well, I–I think so… I've taken on a few bandits and even some wild animals... " Ryoga answered, feeling as though he was stroking his own ego, he rubbed the back of his head.
"Damn! Must be one hell of a style ya got!" she exclaimed.
"Style? I guess you could call it that..." Ryoga took a second to realize how his 'style' differed from others, his head tilted back while thinking it over.
"Guessin' this isn't your run-of-the-mill style?" Ranko asked, a little shocked and perhaps a little excited to hear that the one she was traveling with was skilled in a unique fighting style.
"It's..." Ryoga paused, then looked at the ground and blushed a little, 'How do I put this...?' he mulled over in his head.
"Uh-huh...?" Ranko nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"It's my own version of martial arts rhythmic gymnastics..." Ryoga said, his voice growing fainter as he continued to speak, flushed with embarrassment.
"Ain't that, that sport where you twirl a ribbon...?" Ranko inquired, making sure she wasn't hearing things she even reached up to clean her ear out.
"I-It's not just that! There are also balls, hoops, and clubs... Martial Arts is right in the title too!"
Ranko's mind wandered, imagining Ryoga twirling a ribbon around in a yellow leotard. The image was enough to get the girl's lips to wobble like a snake scurrying across some sand.
Ryoga's face was glowing red at this point, all he wanted to do was fade from existence so he could avoid having said such a thing but before he could he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Ranko covered her mouth, "H-Hey! I'm sorry, pal... it's just... I thought about you training in a leotard and I just lost it..." Ranko said, hand over her stomach as she looked at him with a friendly smile.
Ryoga found himself blushing at this display of kindness from the redhead; he managed to relax and let out a sigh of relief. "I guess that's okay... my mom did teach it to me when I was just a kid after all..." Ryoga admitted as he began to walk again.
His redheaded companion absentmindedly followed, "Oh? Why's that? Did she want a girl...?"
"W-what!? No! I asked her to train me!"
"Oh! W-wait... why not just go to a dojo?"
He paused to weigh his options, 'Should I really tell her it's because I kept getting lost and missing my class fees?' Ryoga thought.
"W-we had money problems..." Ryoga lied knowing that it'd be pretty stupid to admit, considering who he was trying to help.
"Oh... why aren't you some rhythmic gymnast or something?" Ranko asked honestly intrigued, 'If he could train 'that' into something that can fights bears or sumthin'...' she thought as she moved to walk alongside him.
"Because that's not all I want to do, the truth is... I live to fight but I also have-" Ryoga found himself pausing as he pumped one fist, stopping himself from revealing too much about himself.
At the very moment Ryoga uttered those words "I live to fight", Ranko found herself staring at the lost boy and finding the noises of the world around her fading. She averted her eyes and looked at the ground, 'Why am I so damn nervous!? Just breathe, okay...' Ranko thought so lost in her own world that she failed to notice that Ryoga was doing the same.
'Should I tell her? She's been pretty cool about everything else... if kinda' jerky...' Ryoga thought before taking a deep breath.
Her eyes left the ground, stealing a quick glance at Ryoga. He appeared to be readying himself for something, for what she was unsure but her she had yet to fully recover from her strange mesmerized state, her breath had slowed to a crawl.
"I'm here to settle a score with someone..."
That caught Ranko by surprise, to think this gentle-looking boy actually had some sort of vendetta to get to. Ranko instantly dismissed the idea of his story involving her, since chances are this was a guy and guys had a right to settle disputes involving martial artists testing their ability or simply getting them back for wronging one another. Why didn't she feel the same for women martial artists? How could she have a sexist view of herself? In fact, why had that just come to her? She knew she wasn't weak! She was strong and didn't need to be babied!
Ryoga noticed the look of turmoil on her face and mistook it for concern about him getting into a fight, "I don't think I can let him get away from me anymore, he's going to pay for running out on me..." Ryoga stated, narrowing his eyes as the image of Ranma Saotome flashed in his mind.
Ranko was zapped out of her thought-induced trance, her interest peaked with Ryoga's proclamation of war towards this other boy. "Man, what'd he do to get you to say somethin' like that?" Ranko asked.
"That bastard... he challenged me every day when it came to getting bread at our school together, making me look like a fool and when I finally feel that I can get my revenge, I challenge him to a man-to-man fight! Coward probably ran with his tail between his legs!" Ryoga shouted baring his fangs as he held his hands to his sides, fiercely clenched as burning determination seethed through his veins.
Ranko stared at her companion and noticed his aura coming from his body. She was able to tell what that signified, not to mention his obvious appearance, it gave away his true intentions. "W-wait, you're angry at him over some bread? You're going around chasing this guy into a whole other country to try and get him for making you look stupid in front of some other guys?" Ranko asked feeling confused as to why he was so annoyed at the bread subject. And how did bread lead to a one-on-one fight?
Ryoga paused for a moment. If he told Ranko that he arrived four days late to their duel, would she stick to traveling on her own? The thought alone made him nervous; he had to think of some sort of lie.
That or avoid the subject and make Ranko believe that Ranma Saotome had chosen to run away from their battle; which he actually did believe to an extent. "He didn't come and then ran off to China. I think I have a reason to be mad..." Ryoga replied, easing his tense expression and saving face with Ranko and her opinion of him.
There was no chance of him ruining his travels with Ranko, he just hoped that the fates would conspire in his favor and allow him the chance to at least become friends with her.
"Look... maybe he had something ta' do and couldn't make it," Ranko stated, hoping to keep Ryoga from taking himself down a very dark path. One weird question that kept popping up was, why did she feel a little offended by him insulting this one person who she had never even met?
"Fine... I'm still going to have my rematch with you, Ranma Saotome... just you wait..." Ryoga stated, looking up in the direction of the sky. It seemed as though he was looking towards the sky, trying to convey his message of revenge to his enemy spiritually.
Ranko found herself staring towards the sky as well, sighing and shaking her head. "Well... thanks for helping me, even though you got such a big grudge against this Ranma guy," Ranko added.
Ryoga turned to Ranko and nodded his head, "We should keep going, we got plenty of hours left in the day to travel... let's not waste them," Ryoga suggested and found himself blushing for maintaining a pretty cool look, glad that he was actually able to stay composed in front of a woman, for once.
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A few hours later…
Our two very lost travelers continued along the path to what they hoped would eventually lead them to Yakusai. Climbing across whatever obstacles Chinese Mother Nature could throw at them, from hills to rivers, nothing but the amount of time spent traveling wore them down.
Eventually, exhaustion set in, and with their shoulders slouched, they walked as if their minds had gone on autopilot.
"Anything yet…?" the irritated-sounding redhead asked.
"If I see anything, you'll be the first to know…" Ryoga responded, cutting some dense foliage with his bandanna like a makeshift machete.
There was simply nothing they could do as they were completely unaware of what was going on in the area they were in; right now their best bet was to come across literally anything that could maybe point them in the right direction.
Ranko felt rampant boredom overtake her, for as much as she'd like to keep things professional between the two, she knew if she did strike up some sort of conversation she was going to go mad from counting every single boulder they crossed on their way, '78, 79… Oh, and would you look at that… 80! God, I'm bored...!' Ranko groaned in her head.
On Ryoga's side of the fence, he honestly hadn't a clue what to say to the red-headed girl, 'What should I say?' Ryoga thought absentmindedly slashing away at whatever came his way.
"Hey! Ryo!" Ranko called, trying to get the lost boy's attention.
'I mean… I know we just met and all…'
"Ryoga! Hey man… are you listenin'?"
'What the hell do you ask a girl that doesn't remember anything!?' Ryoga thought, shutting his eyes closed.
"RYOGA!" Ranko screamed, her eyes closing.
"Huh!?" Ryoga stopped in mid-swing to see why he was being called so urgently.
"Any reason you're going in circles, Ryoga?" Ranko asked as she crossed her arms, one of her hands drumming her fingers on her arm.
At first, Ryoga thought she was only kidding, or rather he hoped she was since he had made a sizable somewhat circular clearing of their current location. Quickly he thought of an excuse, "I–I was… clearing us a campsite?"
Giving him a look that Ryoga could only describe as her silently saying, "Yeah… I'm sure you were," she figured it wasn't worth commenting on and strolled onto Ryoga's accidental creation, hands on her hips as she checked the foundation.
"Not bad actually…" she blinked.
Exhaling Ryoga was glad to have at least made himself useful, 'Least I can do... I couldn't imagine being lost with her...' he thought with a sympathetic tone to his inner thoughts.
"We ought to get a fire going, huh? Ryoga...?"
'Alright, I could… but a girl without a memory? She doesn't really seem scared though…' Ryoga's eyes shifted to the side when he came to this conclusion.
"Really? Again! Ugh..."
'Ranko is nothing like any of the girls I've ever met be-' Ryoga's mind shifted back into full gear, helping him evade a small but clearly not lacking in force fist aiming for his chin.
Ranko stood with her fist aimed towards the sky, looking pleasantly surprised rather than upset for having missed, "So you weren't bluffing..."
"You could have just asked to spar!" Ryoga shouted feeling angry at being attacked like that.
"I know! But this was way more fun..." Ranko chuckled as she brought her fist down and took an offensive battle stance.
Ryoga stared at her with one eye twitching in annoyance, 'Either she's a bit of a jerk or way too damn cocky...' he thought as he narrowed his eyes and met Ranko's. "You want to spar, right?"
"Yeah! I wanna see where I'm at so dat next time I see those Joketsuzoku amazon goons I can give 'em some payback!" Ranko said as she encircled her yellow-clad sparring mate.
"Alright, then, let's spar!" Ryoga agreed, holding his arms out in front of him; fists clenched.
Naturally, Ranko took the lead, unleashing an onslaught of right hooks and left hooks. All of which were met by Ryoga, pushing Ranko's wrists away from him, deflecting some direct attack with his forearm.
They jumped back to create some space between them, neither leaving the sight of the other as they would only occasionally glance at one another's form. Desperately trying to find a hole in their defenses, they attempted to try their luck once they'd made a complete rotation.
"Arrr...!" They roared as they dashed to the center.
Strike after strike, something was becoming apparent and quite agitating to the redheaded. "Hit back, dammit!" Ranko demanded with red-hot intensity.
Refusing to do as she said, the lost boy desperately tried to keep Ranko at bay. His tactic could only hold out for so long as her superior speed was starting to overwhelm him.
Ranko moved as if she was poised to deliver a powerful uppercut, the lost boy's pupils resembled pin-needles as he swiftly yanked his head back at the last second. "Gotcha!" Ranko shouted triumphantly.
The lost boy received two well-executed strikes right onto his rib cage, just beneath his pectorals. "Oomph!" Ryoga's eyes widened as he felt his body hurt.
With such a docile opponent Ranko couldn't really feel any sort of rush or excitement so her feelings reflected in her actions and all of her attacks filled with speed and aggression, "I said hit back you-!" the redhead was cut short as she swung her right arm.
"Fine!" Ryoga exclaimed, waiting for the right moment he took one step forward, grabbing Ranko by the collar of her shirt, catching her off balance. She gasped as his other hand, not even a second later reached out and grabbed Ranko by her by the forearm of her silk shirt.
Before she knew it she was on her back, having gone so quickly that she ended up getting a bit of whiplash from the amount of force put behind Ryoga's overhead throw. Ranko swore she heard her skull 'thunk' on the ground. She grimaced and opened her eyes to see Ryoga's fist-shaking from having stopped before making contact.
Ranko gasped and quickly rolled out of harm's way, quickly getting back up. "Why'd ya' stop, huh!?" She asked with a quizzical but also enraged look.
"Th-that doesn't matter...I would have won anyway!" Ryoga said in his defense.
"What!? That was luck! Besides you're not even taking this seriously!" Ranko shouted as a bead of sweat came from the side of her head.
Ryoga focused in on Ranko and noticed that she was breathing heavier than him, 'She's tougher than I thought, most people couldn't take—ugh" Ryoga thought before gritting, reaching one hand out to his ribs.
Not even giving him a chance to reply she sprinted her way over to him. Ranko saw his eyes widen, watching as he tried to either block or completely evade her attacks. Never-ending swings and kicks flew toward Ryoga but that did little to keep Ryoga from playing on the defensive, 'I know they're hurting you! So why won't you hit back!?' Ranko thought, her actions just as intense as the inner monolog.
Every time Ranko managed to get past his defenses, Ryoga would push past all his pain at any time that he saw he could make any kind of counterattack. An opportunity presented itself, during one of the girl's attacks he saw that he was able to land a blow to Ranko's face.
'I–I just can't!' Ryoga's subconscious mind cried.
Ryoga's fist had gone full force but stopped as though it were a train in need of an emergency stop. It even caused Ranko's hair to sway as though it were a gentle gust of wind.
She stared at the fist that Ryoga had dared to halt; she found her eye twitching as she jumped back and glared at him, "Stop treating me like some defenseless little princess!"
"I don't hit girls, it's dishonorable!" Ryoga exclaimed, finally just blurting out his reason.
"I ain't like the other girls you've seen! I can fight-" Ranko choked on her words and shook her head, wishing she had a pillow to scream in. She knew that if honor was involved and it was another martial artist, it was almost impossible to reason with them.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
He recoiled upon seeing her reaction, fear set in as he tried to say something else in hopes of lightening the mood so they could maybe go back to setting up camp. "Ranko! I just... look!" Ryoga's head had tilted down, trying to organize his thoughts.
"I just wanted a good fight but nooo..." Ranko complained, crossing her arms and walking away from the lost boy.
"Would you let me explain!?" Ryoga shouted, throwing his arms out in front of him as he followed after her.
"I know what it was and I don't care! The last thing I want to see is you, so stay put!" Ranko ordered coming to a stop and shouting, refusing to face Ryoga.
A look of shock and despair hit Ryoga as he closed his mouth, trying to offer any sort of counterargument but knew that he really couldn't say much of anything as it was obvious that she wanted a fight, one where she was treated as an equal.
"I messed up..." Ryoga muttered, standing before the nearest tree, proceeding to bash his head against it, 'I can't even say anything right around a tomboy...' Ryoga thought right before he felt a few acorns gently bounce off his head.
Ranko stopped as she considered just getting over it, grinding her teeth she heard Ryoga bop his head against a tree. She blinked before looking over her shoulder, seeing him show genuine remorse, 'Least he knows what gets on my nerves... hopefully I get a real fight out of him next time...' she pondered.
"I ain't some weak little girl! Got that!?" Ranko screamed over her shoulder as she marched away from Ryoga.
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A few minutes after…
She kicked a small pebble up as she walked and caught it skillfully with her left hand without missing a beat. She then proceeded to place the little rock between her fingers and used her thumb to shoot it at a near tree, grinning when she managed to hit the trunk with ease. She had done this trick a few times already, as it helped her vent the frustration she experienced after Ryoga refused to properly spar with her. She guessed she should appreciate he was being a gentleman and all, but she wasn't defenseless and he should have seen that. Sighing, she kicked up another stone and tossed it extra hard, breaking a branch in two with a satisfying snap!
'Hah! I bet that moron can't do that!' she thought, reasoning with Ryoga was not as accurate as she had just discovered she was. Not that he actually needed to, though; as her sore knuckles indicated, her new friend had muscles harder than steel and he was probably far stronger than a bear. He didn't need to be precise while being that strong and durable.
'But on the other hand, I made him hurt, which means I'm pretty strong myself, with emphasis on the pretty!' She decided as she recalled her good looks. The redhead decided to cling to these details as they helped her feel better about herself. She was strong, fast, skilled at martial arts, and gorgeous, too! Sure, she couldn't recall her life before the… The incident, with that strange Amazon nutjob that had tried to kill her, but if she was this skilled then it meant she was very special, and she rather enjoyed how proud that made her feel.
'Now, if I could only remember my past, then things would be awesome,' she thought, once again demanding some answers from her brain and once again receiving a big, fat zero for an answer.
'Meh, stupid brain,' she thought with a frown.
The girl stopped when she found an old wooden fence blocking the path she had started walking in just a few minutes before. She leaned on the old planks and looked at the land ahead. A neglected rice field greeted her, and she could see a ruined cabin further ahead, too.
'Doesn't look that bad from here,' she decided, thinking it may be a better place to spend the night than out in the open. Thinking it was worth a closer look Ranko jumped over the fence and approached the house.
It had burned. Or at least that was what the blackened bricks told her. She was circling the old house now and was more and more convinced that a fire had consumed part of it, but it seemed the previous owners had managed to save at least a third of the structure. It wasn't much, of course, but it looked sturdy enough and should suffice in case she and Ryoga really needed a place to stay that night. But that was only the outside. She had to check the inside to make sure they wouldn't fall through the floor all the way to the basement. Thinking this, she returned to the front of the cabin and pushed the old burnt door open.
"Well, it ain't that bad on the inside either," she muttered as she stepped in and looked around. "I bet with some work it'd be good as new in no time…"
She heard a noise in the adjacent room and immediately went silent. She eyed the dark space to her left and pressed herself to the wall, believing it would be wiser to slowly edge her way to the exit. She wasn't afraid of fighting if she had to, but that didn't mean she would recklessly put herself in danger if she could avoid it.
The noise again, only this time she could identify what it was. Someone was crying. Ranko instinctively took a step in the direction of the sound but stopped when she realized it could be dangerous. More weeping was heard and, cursing herself for doing this, she slowly walked to the other room until she was able to peek inside from the empty door frame.
"Hey, are you alright?" Ranko asked when she found that the person crying in there was another redheaded girl who appeared to be in her late teens. The strange girl, despite her mortified expression, was simply stunning and Ranko was speechless as she looked at the other redhead's wet and glistening blue eyes. She noticed the girl had fangs similar to Ryoga's, and strangely pointy ears as well. There was something odd about the teenager, Ranko decided, something almost… animal, about her that made her slightly wary of approaching her further.
'But she's cryin' so I can't just leave her alone,' she thought.
"You… You from Japan?" the fanged girl asked, answering with heavy accented Japanese as she wiped her tears with her sleeve, "why you here in border to Musk Dynasty territory, it too, too dangerous for outsider women!"
Ranko sighed, figuring she would walk into trouble. Was this one of her talents before losing her memory or something? First, she'd gained the hate of some crazy Amazon chick and now she'd walked into a bad situation she was sure she would regret getting involved with.
"Sorry, I'm kind of lost right now," she said. "Look, I really don't wanna cause trouble or anything so if you're ok perhaps I should go… is this your house? Do you need help?
"Not my house," the other redhead said. "I… just needed rest. I must go now before they…"
As if on cue, a loud crash was heard outside and Ranko rushed to the window. Spying from the corner, she had to swallow as she cursed her luck. It seemed she definitively had a talent for walking into trouble.
There were two large, hairy, and bulky men outside. One of them was casually crushing an old cart with his hands while the other crouched to pick up a handful of dirt, which he sniffed at with his rather porcine-looking nose. The men wore some sort of uniform, and Ranko wondered if these were cops or soldiers or something along those lines.
"Boar family trackers from Musk Palace, bad, bad, bad!" the fanged girl muttered with a fear-filled whisper. "They got my smell again! We must escape, you and I, fast!"
"But… whadda ya mean?" Ranko managed to get out before the other girl pulled her away from the open window.
"They be too strong!"
"Hey, I'm strong too and I bet I can fight them!" Ranko argued, that she didn't like having her skills underestimated, not after learning how good at fighting she was just a few minutes prior.
"You not be silly! You stay here, you die!" The other woman sentenced, and before Ranko could reply she rushed out of the house, using a hole in the wall to escape in the direction opposite where the two large men stood.
"Hey, wait!" Ranko hissed. She was about to follow the girl, but a sparkle of light caught her eye then and she looked down, finding a very elaborate and obviously expensive ring on the floor. She picked it up and marveled at the oriental dragon carved on it and at the two small diamonds attached to the little dragon's eyes. "Well, who wants to bet this thing's invaluable?"
"So the criminal is Japanese trash!" One of the massive men said from the window, exactly behind Ranko. "Block the exit while I capture her!"
"Wait, I'm not a…!"
Ranko couldn't even finish her sentence. The Boar tracker punched through the wall and forced her to jump out of the way and the barrage of punches the man threw at her ensured that speaking was the last thing she could attempt. Dodging the surprisingly fast onslaught with increasing difficulty due to the enclosed room, Ranko realized she had to do something soon or the man would capture her, and he was clearly not in the mood to listen to reason either. A quick look confirmed the other man was blocking the door, so she would have to do as the other girl and escape through the hole in the wall.
Or that's what she thought, for her attacker noticed where she was looking, and he immediately figured out her intentions. With a quick step, he put his massive frame between her and the hole. And the other one was not moving away from the door! They had effectively trapped her!
'Gonna have ta fight my way through!' she thought as she ducked another punch, taking this chance to hit back, striking with all her might and hitting the tracker below the ribs, hoping to drive the wind out of him. Her attack had little effect, though, and the man responded with a kick that she had to jump over.
"Stand still you filthy woman!" The tracker demanded as he redoubled his efforts to hit the evasive redhead. "You're only making it worse!"
"I'm not a criminal, you stupid, pig-faced moron! Now just calm down, so I can exp… oooff!"
"Who are you calling pig-face, you tramp?" The furious tracker screamed. He had just landed a hard kick on Ranko thanks to the rage being called a pig ignited in him. He was aware of his appearance, he was rather sensitive about it and heavily disliked being reminded of it.
Ranko crashed into the wall so hard it almost knocked her out, and as she struggled to remain both on her feet and conscious, she understood that she was really outmatched here. Perhaps in an open space, she could have a chance to use her speed and agility against this brute, but here? Cramped in this tiny space he had the advantage and even if she somehow managed to defeat this 'boar tracker' person, there was still another one ready to take his place.
'Can't afford to take another hit like that,' she thought as she shook her head and refocused on the fight. The man was approaching her slowly, it seemed he believed she was beaten and all he had to do was grab her. Well, he had another thing coming. During her sparring session with Ryoga just a few minutes before, Ranko had realized she had a knack for noticing details about her opponents. She believed it was thanks to any training she had received before and she was using it now to analyze the porcine thug attacking her.
'He sure hates being called a pig, even lost control when I did...' she mused as she noticed the wall was very weak now after she crashed into it. A plan formed in her mind in a fraction of a second, and feeling certain it would work, she decided to give it a try.
"Hey, mister pig, that all ya got?" she said in a mocking tone, doing her best to appear unaffected by the hard kick. "I have a friend who hits harder n' you and he's only half your size!"
"What did you call me?" The tracker roared, his aura becoming visible as anger overtake his common sense. "I'll teach you a lesson in manners before taking you in, you insolent little…!"
The massive man growled and crouched, preparing to charge at the redheaded teenager, which was exactly what Ranko was hoping for. Smirking, she stuck her tongue out and pulled open her mouth with her fingers, knowing this would only enrage his attacker even more.
"Try it, pig face!"
Roaring, the tracker did just as Ranko wanted and launched his massive frame at her, hoping to squash her. And that was when Ranko rolled to the side, letting the man crash head first against the brick and wood wall. The resulting impact did little to hurt the Musk soldier other than momentarily trapping him in the wall, but his efforts to get free started shaking the house in a very alarming way.
"Uh… nice ta meet ya and all that, but I gotta run!" Ranko said once she noticed what was about to happen and before the other tracker could chase her, she jumped out of the house and escaped the farm as fast as she could. She heard a loud crash behind her just as he cleared the old fence, which meant the house had finally collapsed. She guessed it was safe, so she stopped and looked back to make sure nobody was following her.
She wished she hadn't. The man who had stayed near the door was still on his feet and was helping his friend crawl out of the rubble, once he completed his task, he focused on Ranko and started running after her!
"Ah! Damnit! Just my luck!" she groaned in frustration and started running again. She only had a small head start and was determined to make the best out of it, so she jumped to a nearby tree and used a branch to bounce further ahead, gaining more ground on her pursuer.
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Back at the campsite…
Ryoga, calmer now, was sitting next to a fire he had finally managed to start after collecting some wood. He had stayed near the campsite and been extra careful not to wander off, as he couldn't bear the thought of getting lost on Ranko now that he had decided to help her to the best of his abilities. He still lamented their argument and was currently trying to figure out a way to give the redhead a good spar without hurting her, which wasn't as easy as he thought since he really feared what one of his punches could do to her.
'I do have to give her credit for what she did, nobody had ever hurt me this way so far,' he thought, rubbing his bruised torso. Ranko had figured fairly quickly that the best way to hurt him was to punch him repeatedly in the same spot, and she had gone all out on his right side, particularly the ribs. 'She must have hit me at least fifty times right here, that girl is very fast.'
He poked at the fire with a stick and winced a little. She had really gone nuts with the rib shots, and that annoyed him. He decided he'd have to do some exercises to strengthen his chest and torso because he felt she would try the same trick the next time they sparred.
"Ryooooooooooga!"
He looked up from the fire, instantly alarmed at the way she was screaming his name, she wasn't anywhere in sight but was probably not too far away. He got to his feet and started in what he believed was the direction her voice came from but stopped after two steps. What if he went the wrong way? If she was in danger he couldn't afford to get lost!
'Is it the Amazons she mentioned again?' he thought, feeling more and more worried, with each passing second. Where was she coming from?
"Start picking up camp you idiot, we gotta leave!"
He turned left and saw her run out of the woods as if the hounds of hell were chasing her. It was a good thing he had decided to stay put, otherwise he would have gone in a different direction, complicating things more than what they appeared to already be.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Some pig-faced freak is coming after me!" she answered, breathing hard as she leaned on her knees to recover a little. "He's ain't no pushover either, I dropped a house on the guy and he's…"
"You what? Look, you're not making any sense, calm down!" He urged, trying to sound in control but feeling restless at her words. Ryoga knew he could probably fight a person strong enough to resist having a house falling on them, but he wasn't sure he could actually win that battle, and that suddenly worried him. Just what had Ranko done?
"No time for that!" She shouted. "We hafta go before he gets here!"
"Too late, I am here!" a loud voice announced. "And I'm not going to just arrest you; I'll make you pay for what you did to my cousin!" he threatened but taking a step forward had caused some debris from the house to fall from his hairy form.
"You actually dropped a house on them..." Ryoga muttered in disbelief, trying his best not to look scared in front of the newcomer.
"They think I'm some other girl and got all ticked off. They didn't give me much of a choice, okay?" Ranko said sourly once she noted the accusing way Ryoga was staring at her. "It's not as if I'm always looking for trouble or anything!"
"Could have fooled me," Ryoga sighed and ignored the 'I heard that!' Ranko muttered behind him, walking to meet the hulking man that had followed her to the camp.
"Uh… mister, we don't want any trouble," he said. "If we can talk about this I'm sure we can…"
Ryoga couldn't complete the sentence, as he got a hard punch to the face before he could finish what he was trying to say. The strike was tremendous and he was sent flying all the way to a nearby tree, which fell upon the impact.
"Ryoga!" Ranko screamed, worried for her friend making her feel a ball of fear around her throat.
"He's not getting up after that!" The tracker boasted. "And now it's time to punish you!"
"You bastard, he didn't do anything to you!" the redhead yelled. Her concern had turned to fury, and she had now abandoned any thought of escaping, "you... you miserable pig-faced freak!"
"Bring it on, girly!" The man shouted and charged at her, "I'll squash you!"
This time Ranko actually fared better than during the previous fight with the other tracker, being in the open gave her the chance to dodge with ease and to use the space to outmaneuver her opponent, something she was doing quite well, ducking under his punches and jumping over his kicks while moving back and forth, landing several kicks on the big man's head and neck, even making him stagger once.
But he still didn't fall.
"What the hell are you made of?" A frustrated Ranko said as she landed after delivering a powerful kick that didn't do much to her opponent. She was starting to tire and she knew she had only a few more punches and kicks in her. If she didn't beat him soon…
"Hah! You should never underestimate a Musk warrior!" The tracker said, "We're the strongest around and…!"
And the man was interrupted by the tip of a heavy umbrella colliding with his mouth. Ryoga had thrown his makeshift weapon at the Musk tracker, it hit him so hard that he finally fell on his back.
"You don't look that strong to me, asshole!" Ryoga said from behind Ranko.
"I thought you were out like a light," she said, failing to keep the relief she felt from showing in her voice.
"Yeah, well, he surprised me. That's all," he answered, "now, what do you say we kick his butt?"
"I can do it alone," Ranko said, her competitive drive returning immediately.
"I'm sure you can, but I have to pay him back for this!" Ryoga said and pointed at his bruised cheek.
"Alright, now you've done it!" The furious soldier shouted as he got up and threw Ryoga's umbrella to the side. "You both are getting pounded!"
"Ryoga… I have a plan. I'll hit high and you'll hit low," Ranko whispered as she got ready for the soldier's upcoming attack. "He's strong but his defense is lame. He won't be able to stop us both, ok?"
"Yeah, ok."
The tracker cracked his knuckles and attacked again, this time he tried to punch Ranko first as he believed her friend hadn't fully recovered, just yet. This proved to be a mistake, as Ranko had no trouble jumping high out of harm's way, spinning in the air and smashing her heel on his left ear, while Ryoga used this chance to dash close and deliver a powerful punch straight on the soldier's abdomen.
This combination worked were individual attacks failed and the soldier fell to his knees, one hand over his gut and the other covering his bleeding ear. He felt his head spinning and his stomach twisting, and he considered admitting defeat for the first time since the fight started. These were no ordinary kids he was facing here!
"Ryoga, shall we?" Ranko called motioning at the soldier while making a fist with her right hand.
"Yes, let's," he answered doing the same thing she did.
"Wait, let's talk!" the soldier pleaded to no effect. The teenagers were far too angry to listen and rushed at him to slam their fists right on his jaw, sending him flying backward, all the way to the edge of the clearing.
"And there's more where that came from!" Ranko shouted.
"Go away, and make sure I don't see you again, I don't like men who hurt women!" Ryoga seconded, baring his fangs in a furious gesture.
The tracker nodded and got up slowly, staring at his opponents with newfound respect and a little fear… though it was only the boy who made him feel a wave of fear climbing up his spine; the soldier hadn't noticed before but this boy, his fangs but particularly his ki… it was not normal, it almost felt like if it belonged to a member of the hunting clans in the Musk Dynasty. That was, of course, a stupid idea but since he was already hurting enough, the tracker decided a strategic retreat was his best chance, so he simply turned and jumped into the forest, escaping a fight he knew he couldn't win.
'I'll have to bring help next time!' He thought as he ran.
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A few minutes later…
Ryoga finished packing his tent and put it in his trusty backpack, which he quickly swung over his shoulder. He and Ranko had decided to move before the soldier returned with reinforcements, it was the best thing they could do right now and they knew they had to do it so they had put as much distance between them and where they were, before nightfall.
"I coulda beat him on my own, you know?" Ranko said as she started walking next to Ryoga.
"I guess you could have, but together we defeated him faster," he said, trying to stay in a straight line and not exactly managing it.
"Yep, s'true," she conceded. "I hope that's the last we see of him, though."
"Me, too," he sighed. "I hope we get to Yakusai without any more trouble..."
"We were both, kind of cool, weren't we?" She said after a few minutes of silence. "That umbrella throw you did was pretty awesome..."
"It was, wasn't it?" Ryoga said with a smile, feeling strangely happy someone other than his parents complemented his fighting skills.
"And I was great too, wasn't I?" She asked, giving him a somewhat cocky smile.
"Yes, that spinning kick you did in midair was very impressive," he answered, looking at her and offering her a soft, honest smile. "You're full of surprises, Ranko… and a hell of a fighter, too..."
"Yeah… I s'pose I am…" she answered, smiling back. She sighed and lowered her face when he returned his attention to the old map he had pulled from his bag; she felt shy around him all of a sudden and that troubled her. Why… why did it feel so nice when he praised her?
'I bet nobody ever said nice things to me like that before,' she decided as she silently followed Ryoga, not noticing he was heading for the mountains and getting them both even more lost than before.
Deep in her thoughts, Ranko continued walking beside Ryoga. Her thoughts eventually shifted from him to the strange girl she had met in the house, and she wondered why those Musk trackers were after her… perhaps they wanted that ring she'd dropped in the house?
'Yeah, that's probably it,' she thought. 'A shame I dropped it, otherwise, I coulda gave it to those idiots and avoided all this trouble...'
What Ranko didn't know yet was that she hadn't dropped the ring, she had instead put it in her pocket without realizing it and now she carried with her a very valuable treasure. A treasure the Prince heir of the Musk Dynasty wanted to recover by any means necessary.
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In the Amazon village…
A few Amazons were gathered at Joketsuzoku's gates. The women stood in a semi-circle around Elder Cologne, who was explaining the situation at hand to them: a young redheaded teenager had escaped the village before receiving punishment for interrupting the martial arts tournament, something they already were aware of, but they didn't know the girl had left her father behind. What really mattered was that Cologne wanted the fugitive back, and when Cologne wanted something, all Amazons could do nothing but obey and help her achieve it.
"You all know what the girl looks like. Go, find her and bring her back here!" Cologne ordered.
"I will find that fake woman first," Shampoo, who had stayed by the village's gates, said once the other Amazons were gone. "I have a score to settle with her."
"That 'fake woman' is a man," Cologne stated, "and by tradition, he's your rightful husband."
"Eating dirt would be better than marrying him," the young Amazon declared. "You know I must kill her if I find her first."
"If you find her," Cologne smiled wolfishly, realizing this could be a chance to enhance Shampoo's already considerable training regime. All she had to do was to goad her into finding the missing Saotome and the ensuing search and possible conflict would surely make her great-granddaughter stronger.
"What are you thinking?" The teenager asked.
"I'll offer you a deal," Cologne said. "Find and defeat this Saotome boy before the others and bring him here so I can talk to him; do it and I'll convince the village council to ignore our rules so you don't have to marry him."
"That sounds too good to be true," Shampoo said, but then nodded, realizing this way she wouldn't have to actually kill Ranma, something that pleased her since she wasn't a murderer and now that she had somewhat calmed down, had realized didn't want to become. That didn't mean she wouldn't destroy him for humiliating her, though. "Deal, I'll bring him back defeated!"
"Then take this with you," Cologne said and handed Shampoo a white rag.
"What's this?"
"It's his father's," the elder stated. "Show it to him and that will convince the Saotome boy to fight you, or you can use it to lure him back here. Either way, it should be useful."
"Fine, not that I need it," Shampoo said and, after bowing to Cologne goodbye, she dashed all the way to the house behind the town's school. She had to enlist Mousse's help again, as she believed with his help she would be able to track down and destroy that irritating man-woman in battle.
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In a cell somewhere in the Amazon village…
"Do you play shogi?" Cologne asked as she entered Genma Saotome's cell. She carried a shogi board with her and was hoping to get a good game out of her captive. "It's been years since I played, nobody here likes it much."
"I don't see why not," Genma said as he stood up from his bed. He had been napping, as there weren't many other things to do, and decided that humoring the woman was in his best interests, plus a good shogi game was always a nice distraction, he could certainly use one.
"Thank you for providing that bandana," Cologne said once she finished setting the shogi board.
"I still don't understand why you needed it," the Saotome patriarch said with a sour tone. He didn't enjoy having his bald head exposed as he believed it made him look undignified.
"Your son will come back once he sees it," the ancient martial artist provided. "If he's such a devoted son as you said, his father's safety will be his weakness."
"Oh… I see… quite devious of you," Genma said. He was certain his son would try to rescue him; all he hoped was that Ranma wouldn't fall for any tricks. No, he decided, he had trained Ranma well in the ways of the Saotome Style Anything Goes Martial Arts, which meant his son should be able to tell the difference between a trick and an honorable challenge from a mile away.
'And as long as this woman keeps thinking Ranma is such a perfect gentleman, the boy will have the advantage. Let's hope things stay that way until we're both back in Japan,' he thought as he reached for his first akoma(shogi piece), making the first move of the game.
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DaisukiFox: We'll see ya' then! Take care! Try to read and review, fav, and all that good stuff! X3
Prescribing Fluff from the doctor~
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