Never, never lost.
Ranma sat alone in the Tendo yard on his back watching the stars flicker
above him. He didn't move, mostly because he didn't feel like it, he
simply found a star and focused on it for no apparent reason. It wasn't
particularly bright or even part of a constellation. He sighed heavily
and found himself drawn to the star, not able to find any real reason
why. After a moment he opened his mouth and spoke. "Stupid old man."
"How long are you going to lie there boy? You've been slacking off in
your training since we came here," snorted Genma as he came into the
boy's field of vision.
"I donno old man, I just don't feel like it," snorted the boy in reply.
"Do you think your opponent will give you a break just because you don't
feel like it boy?" cried the man as he took his son by his shirt and
tossed him over his shoulder into the pond.
Ranma stood up and glared at her father angrily as she shook her hands
off and chuckled to herself. "You old fool, I'll kill you!" screamed the
red haired girl as she jumped into the air and kicked her father in the
face sending him flying across the yard flat on his back. She turned on
her heels and stomped into the house leaving him alone in the yard.
"Ranma, are you all right?" said Akane as the girl walked past her.
"Yea, I'm fine Akane," she paused and noticed the small animal in her
fianc�e's arms and sighed. "I'm gonna go take a bath now."
"What was that about P-chan?" said the girl in confusion. The pig
squealed in response and jumped out of her arms to follow behind Ranma.
"Hey, where are you going?" Akane watched him, but let him be as he
turned the corner.
"I thought P-chan was supposed to disappear pig boy," snorted Ranma as
Ryoga emerged from the waters next to him.
"I only promised that I'd stop sleeping with her Saotome. It can't be
helped and you know it!" retorted the lost boy angrily. He managed to
keep his temper in check though and relaxed in the furo. "I do try to
avoid it, but you know how that can go."
"Yeah, I get it. I'm just in a bad mood is all." Ranma put his head back
and rubbed at his temples lightly.
"Wondering if it's all worth it?" snorted Ryoga casually.
"No, I know it is, it's just starting to get to me finally," replied the
pigtailed boy.
"Yeah, I can understand that, we haven't exactly led normal lives have
we?" said Ryoga as he stood up out of the water with Ranma and moved
towards the door.
"How's Akari doing these days?" asked Ranma as he started to dress
himself in the changing room.
"Well enough, the farm is pretty peaceful," said Ryoga with a chuckle.
"Sometimes it drives me up the wall."
"I guess it would, we're finally growing up," said Ranma with a light
smile as he put his arms into the red shirt he always wore.
"I'm starting to understand what that means," agreed Ryoga. "Fianc�e's
giving you much trouble these days?"
"Of course, they all still act the same as always. I think Shampoo might
be getting a little desperate now."
"She won't give it up will she?" said Ryoga with a frown growing on his
face.
"No, she won't. I don't think getting married would be a very good idea
right now."
The lost boy merely shook his head and walked out the door. "I'll be
seeing you around Saotome, I won't be this civil next time, but I can see
you don't need it tonight."
"I appreciate it Ryoga," said Ranma honestly. Something was bothering
him, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. The calm before the storm hit
again?
"Yeah," answered his rival as he walked out of the bathroom and into the
home. Ranma merely watched him leave.
The evening was cool, fall was setting in again as Ryoga stood outside
the Tendo home and started off into the street. He didn't care where he
went, as long as it was far away from here. The temptation Akane still
seemed to present him lingered in the back of his mind as he pulled the
traveling bag up against his back. "You'd better make her happy Ranma,
I'm counting on you." He couldn't help but smile as wondered which of
them was truly the most cursed.
Akane sat in her bedroom and lay across the sheets to her bed later that
evening. Memories of the past year still lingered in her mind. All the
moments she cherished the most seemed to involve Ranma in some way. Even
her worst memories were of him now, she knew he would never be out of her
life, and somehow that suited her fine. She wasn't sure of it until after
they returned from China, a few days after the failed wedding. Feelings
for him still lingered, but she was still uncertain if she wanted to live
the rest of her life as it was now.
"Oh, Ranma. What the hell are we going to do with ourselves?" she rolled
over and covered herself in the sheets. A gentle breeze floated into the
room where the window was open and she stared at the curtains as they
blew gently seeming to reach for her where she lay.
The next morning Ranma woke up and screamed as Soun Tendo's tear filled
face met him as he opened his eyes.
"Raaannnmmmaaaa!" cried the man excitedly.
"Huh? Whazup? Whatcha doin?" muttered the boy sleepily.
"You've got to save my Akane!" cried the man.
Ranma felt his entire body freeze up. "Oh man, not again!"
The Tendo home was wrecked, a long cut was visible along the wall that
led up the stairs and Akane's door had been slashed several times.
"What the hell is this?" screamed Ranma as he stormed into the room not
waiting for an explanation.
Inside he found Nabiki and Kasumi staring at a note stuck into the wall
by an old looking western knife. It was written in English and had a
carefully scrawled message.
The room was a mess. The bed was overturned and a long scar ran along
the wall, it looked like it had been ripped up by a very sharp object.
Ranma paused and stared at the scene in shock. "What happened?"
Genma entered the room and slapped his son on the back of his head.
"Foolish boy! How dare you allow your fianc�e to be kidnapped again! What
kind of martial artist are you boy?"
The man was silenced as Nodoka glared at him as she entered the room. "I
didn't see either of you two up and about last night saving her either."
She turned towards Ranma and frowned. "My son, it is your duty as her
fianc�e to rescue Akane."
The boy nodded grimly. "Don't worry about that mom." He turned and
ripped the note off the wall staring at it intensely. A battle aura
burned around him as his eyes darted across the page. "I won't forgive
whoever did this!"
Nabiki turned to look at him and sighed, as he remained motionless after
several moments. "Ranma, can you read that note?"
The boy's features fell and he glared at her. "Shut up!"
Ryoga Hibiki stared at the side of the mountain as he prepared to climb.
"I wish there was a road that led to Tokyo, it would make things so much
easier." He sighed and began to scale the wall of rock in front of him.
After about an hour he found himself on an outcropping and turned to
look out over the small town behind him that was nestled in the forest.
"They sure were nice people. I kind of wish I knew the name of this
place." The sun had begun to set in the distance and he rested for a
time. It would be dangerous to continue climbing tonight. "I guess I'll
just sleep here."
He woke up several hours later and realized it was still dark. "What?"
He glanced around and found nothing that could have woke him. "Why did
I?"
"There you are!" cried a distinctly feminine voice.
"Akari?" guessed the boy as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was still
alone.
"No! Shut up and listen! Your girlfriend has been kidnapped! We've got
to go save her!" cried the voice.
"Akari's been kidnapped?!" cried Ryoga as he tried to find the source of
the strangely familiar voice. He frowned when he noticed a strange glow
from inside of a nearby bush.
"No stupid! The other girl! Akane!" retorted the voice angrily.
Ryoga's eyes went wide as he stared at the bush in shock. "What?"
"We've got to go save her!" cried the voice impatiently.
"Damn you Ranma! I told you to take care of her!" screamed the lost boy
angrily.
Ranma Saotome heard the sound of his own name and blinked. He had been
walking through the woods for some time now in search of some clue about
where Akane was being held. After a moment he shrugged it off and
continued walking, it was the middle of the night and he had no intention
of stopping now.
"Stupid old man, how am I supposed to know where Akane's been taken!?"
he grumbled to himself. The memory of the evening before played through
his mind.
"Son! You mustn't return until you've found Akane and brought her back!"
cried Genma dramatically.
"Yes, that's the spirit son!" cried Soun as he shoved a traveling bag
into the boy's arms.
"Hey! I don't even know where to look!" retorted the boy angrily.
"Besides, that tomboy can take care of herself!"
"Oh, my own son! How unmanly!" cried Nodoka with tears in her eyes.
"Now look what you've done boy! You've made your mother cry!" cried
Genma as he kicked the boy in the back of his head.
"All right, all right! I'm goin!" Ranma was then booted out of the home
by both families.
As he trekked through the mountains he still found it hard to believe
Nabiki had actually charged them to translate the note for them. Even
then it had taken an hour and a half for her to find all the words in her
dictionary. The language used was definitely not Business-English. She
had muttered something about how it kind of sounded like Kuno's writing.
He had followed that lead up earlier in the day. After a long battle
with 'Mr. Turtle' and a run in with a hot bath and Kuno's private Bokuten
collection he had discovered that neither of the Kuno siblings was behind
the abduction.
After a few moments of walking along the sloping path he paused and
stared at the scene in front of him in shock. Ryoga was hunched over a
glowing bush and was currently screaming obscenities about him. "What
the? Hey, what the hell are you doing here Ryoga?"
The lost boy turned slowly around and stared at Ranma with a gaze of
ice. "Ranma, today is the day you pay for your sins against Akane!" He
charged forward like a mad bull.
After several moments the battle was over, Ranma and Ryoga were slumped
over each other and punching weakly.
"Cut it out Pig!" cried Ranma.
"Not until you've paid your debt for losing Akane!" cried the lost boy.
Ranma stopped punching and looked at Ryoga in shock. "How do you know
about that?"
Ryoga stopped biting his rival's leg and stared at him for a moment.
"That weird bush told me."
"I am not a bush!" cried an angry female voice.
The pair simply looked at the bush and blinked. "How do you know that
Akane was kidnapped?"
"Because I followed her kidnapper! That's how I found you!" snapped the
voice.
"You mean you let Akane get kidnapped?" roared Ryoga as he jumped up to
his feet.
"I couldn't stop it!" retorted the voice angrily. Both boys seemed to
accept that answer and sighed.
"Of course not, you're only a girl after all," noted Ranma.
"But, she says she knows where Akane is!" said Ryoga after a moment.
"Hey!" snapped the voice.
"Take us to Akane you stupid bush!" cried Ranma as he pulled the plant up
from the ground.
A ball of light blasted out of the shrub and slammed into both boy's
foreheads. "Jerks!" Ranma and Ryoga fell down on the ground out cold.
A short time later Ryoga Hibiki woke up and found himself in a net of
some kind. He was hanging in the air with Ranma tangled up in the air
with him. He glanced down and gasped as he noticed the ocean below him.
"Wake up! Damn you Ranma! This is all your fault!"
The pigtailed boy was already awake though. He opened his eyes and
frowned as Nabiki's translation of the note came back to him again.
"It is formally requested that we meet in a final battle to decide our
destiny. If you do not meet me at the pre appointed place so that we may
cross swords honorably for the final time. I will rend the girl asunder
and feed her to the bottom feeders within the great blue tides. Please
accept my formal invitation to duel. Sincerely yours, Captain James T.
Hook."
TBC...
Heh. This will be fun. I don't expect this to be very long. It's just a
fun little jaunt I thought up today. It should conclude in two or three
parts.
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
I'd like to know where you figured it out also.