I claim no rights to the Ranma 1/2 cast.  They belong to Rumiko
Takahashi, and I have no legal claims therein.  Only the character
Feather is mine.



                  A Feather in the Wind
                        Chapter 9
      
      Ryouga-chan sat unmoving in the rain as the others 
gathered around her in concern.
      "C'mon man, you're freaking me out," Ranma-chan said, 
as Ryouga-chan did not seem to react to them.  Akane shivered 
a little.
      "Let's get her inside for now, Ranma," Akane said.  
Ranma-chan shrugged and tried to drag Ryouga-chan into the 
dojo, but she stood on her own and walked stiffly into the 
dojo.  She absently picked up her ruck and turned back 
towards the door.  Her movements seemed to be slow and 
careful as she pulled her ruck on and cinched the straps.
      "Where are you going Ryouga?"  Akane sounded worried, 
but Ryouga-chan ignored her as she pulled out her umbrella 
and slowly opened it.
      "Ryouga?  Hey!  Are you listening to us?" Ranma-chan 
waved her hand in front of Ryouga-chan's face.  She showed 
absolutely no reaction as she walked outside.  Once she was a 
few steps from the door, she leapt over the fence.
      "Damn it Ryouga! Come back here!"  Ranma-chan yelled as 
she leapt over the fence after her.  Akane and Feather also 
gave chase.  
      Ryouga-chan ran at a dizzying pace, turning in random 
directions at corners, and sometimes just smashing through 
the walls.  Eventually, Akane and Feather fell behind, and 
shortly they lost sight of the 'boys'.    

      "I didn't think Ryouga could run so fast!" Akane gasped 
out.  Feather shook her head.
      "I didn't think so either.  He never ran that fast when 
I was with him.  Now what do we do?"
      "Head back to the dojo I guess," Akane said as she 
looked down the street that Ryouga-chan had sprinted down. 
"There isn't much point in running after them now."  Feather 
nodded.  As they walked, they noticed they were in a less 
prosperous part of town.
      "I don't like this Akane," Feather murmured quietly.
      "Don't worry, we're getting close to Ucchan's now, so 
we'll be able to get out of the rain.  We only have about ten 
more blocks to go." Akane straightened her shoulders as she 
started to walk.  Feather jogged a few steps to catch up.
      "Ten blocks?  How far did we run anyway?"
      "I'd say we're about three kilometers away from the 
dojo."
      "I thought we ran further than that."
      "It was all those turns we took," they lapsed into 
silence as they continued to walk.  Feather kept glancing 
about nervously, half expecting someone to try and jump them.  
Akane was not worried and she walked with a confident air.  
The few other people out in the rain seemed more interested 
in getting where they were going than two young women in gi.

      Ryouga-chan was running blindly.  She didn't care if 
she got lost and stayed lost.  Whenever she reached a 
barrier, she either turned, or destroyed it.  Fortunately for 
the rest of the town, she usually turned.  Her tears melded 
with the rain, disguising the fact that she had even cried at 
all.  Ranma-chan was doing her best to keep up, but the 
rubble from the walls that Ryouga-chan destroyed kept slowing 
her down, and it was not much longer before she lost sight of 
her.
      "Damn it!"  Ranma-chan swore as she looked around and 
noticed that the girls were nowhere in sight.  She started to 
walk back the way she came, and then stopped and looked back 
over her shoulder.
      "Good luck Ryouga, I hope you find what you need," she 
said softly before walking off in the general direction of 
the dojo.

      Akane and Feather were shivering by the time they 
reached the Ucchan's.  When they slid open the door, they saw 
that Ukyou still had quite a few customers.  Ukyou still 
noticed them, however, and called out to them.
      "Hi there you two!  Have a seat, and I'll be right 
there!"  The girls made their way over to an empty table and 
sat down.  After a few minutes, Ukyou came over to where they 
were seated.
      "What can I do for you today?"  Ukyou smiled at them.
      "We really could use a place to dry off Ukyou, we're 
really soaked to the bone," Akane said.
      "Sure thing hon, my place is upstairs, why don't you 
two take a bath and warm up ok?"  Ukyou showed them to the 
stairs before she turned back to dealing with her customers.
        Akane started to draw the bath while Feather wrung 
out their wet clothes.  Akane spared a quick glance over at 
Feather, and easily noticed the scar.  ::I'll have to ask her 
about that sometime,:: she thought.  After a quick rinse off, 
they sank into the furo with a grateful sigh.
      "I hope Ryouga's ok," Feather said as they let the hot 
water soak warmth back into them.  Akane smiled reassuringly.
      "I'm sure Ranma will bring him back.  I thought I saw 
him gaining before we pooped out."  They soaked in silence 
for a few minutes.
      "Hey Akane, what do you think about Ranma?" Feather 
asked suddenly.  Akane started a bit at the redhead's 
question.
      "What makes you ask that?"
      "Well, you two are supposed to be engaged, and I've 
seen you two get along really well sometimes." Feather paused 
to twirl a lock of her hair. "Then you two are arguing again.  
I guess I'm just trying to figure you two out."
      "How do I feel about Ranma?  He's such an insensitive 
jerk, and he's always insulting me.  But then, sometimes, he 
can be so sweet, and no matter what he says he'll always at 
least try my cooking," Akane paused when she saw the huge 
smile on Feather's face, "What?"
      "Oh, nothing," Feather continued to smile.
      "Since we're talking about sensitive subjects, what's 
with that scar on your back?  Ranma won't tell me what Ukyou 
said to him," Feather's smile faded, "I just want to be able 
to help." Akane said gently as Feather sighed.
      "I, I don't want to talk about it.  Ask Ukyou if you 
have to, but please don't make me think about it."  Feather 
looked away as she spoke.  Akane leaned back as they lapsed 
into silence.
      After a good long soak, the girls climbed out of the 
furo and donned some bathrobes that had been laid out for 
them.
      "Our gi are still wet Akane," Feather called out as she 
felt the damp cloth between her fingers.
      "I guess we'll just have to stay up here for a while.  
I'm sure Ukyou would get mad if we walked into her restaurant 
wearing her bathrobes!" The girls giggled for a couple of 
minutes as they imagined what the customers' reactions would 
have been.

      As the last breakfast customer left the Ucchan's, 
Ranma-chan trudged through the door.  Ukyou smiled warmly as 
she bounced over to her fiancee.
      "Hiya Ranchan!  What can I do for you today?" Ukyou 
sounded as cheerful as ever.  Ranma-chan wiped some water off 
of her face.
      "Hi Ucchan, I could really use a towel.  I got soaked 
to the bone chasin' after Ryouga."  Ukyou looked a little 
startled as she ducked behind the counter to fetch a towel.
      "What's wrong with Ryouga?" Ranma-chan shrugged as 
Ukyou passed her the towel.
      "He kinda freaked out.  I guess he wasn't prepared for 
how much of a shock it is to change like that."
      "I thought he was dealing with turning into a wolf 
fairly well," Ukyou sounded confused, "So why did he flip out 
today?"  Ranma-chan snapped her fingers.
      "That's right, you haven't heard yet.  We kinda had to 
run to Ryugenzowa to get a cure for an infection Mousse got.  
Well, while we were there we found out that Ryouga doesn't 
turn into any old wolf."
      "No?"
      "Yeah, he turns into a werewolf.  That isn't what fazed 
him though, what got to him was the fact that he turns into 
as female werewolf."  Ukyou looked shocked.
      "He does?"  Her face turned comical shortly before she 
burst out laughing, "And he always gave you such a hard time 
about your curse!" Ranma-chan scratched the back of her head.
      "Yeah, well..."
      "Wait a sec," Ukyou stopped laughing and a thoughtful 
look grew on her face, "How does the whole werewolf thing 
work?  Is he a wolf until a full moon, and then he goes 
nuts?"
      "Naw.  Near as we can tell, when it's a full moon he 
turns into a wolf, the rest of the time he's a girl; except 
for something that turns him into that weird looking mix 
between them."
      "So that's why he freaked today.  The last night of the 
full moon was a day or two ago, and today was the first time 
he turned into a girl!"
      "You got it!  The jerk was moving like a zombie; you 
know all slow and deliberate.  He went and got his pack, and 
then took off!  Went and leapt over the wall and then ran 
like crazy.  I lost track of 'm just a little while ago."  
Ranma-chan started to vigorously dry her hair as Ukyou 
proceeded to clean her counter.
      "Oh yeah, Feather and Akane are upstairs.  They came by 
here a while back soaked to the bone and worn out.  I told 
them to take a bath and warm up." Ranma-chan grunted her 
acknowledgement.

      It was nearly evening before Ryouga-chan stopped 
running.  She looked around with a confused expression on her 
face.  
      "Now where am I?  How did I get here?" She mumbled to 
herself as she looked at the rural town she was in.  It 
looked vaguely familiar.  ::Why do I think I should know this 
place?::  She mused as she started to look around for someone 
to ask directions from, but with it still raining there were 
not very many people out and about, and they disappeared 
indoors before Ryouga-chan could catch up with them.  Another 
glance at the hauntingly familiar buildings only elicited a 
shrug from her.  ::I guess if you've seen one rural town, 
you've seen them all, right?::
      She decided to look for somewhere to dry off, maybe get 
some hot water to be normal again.  It didn't seem like any 
of the buildings she was near were more than simple homes, so 
she walked along the dirt road hoping to find an inn or 
restaurant just to get out of the rain.
      After wandering aimlessly in the town for an hour, she 
finally found a general store.
      "Good enough," she shrugged as she stepped inside.  The 
interior of the store was small and had a down home feeling 
to it.  The shelves were little more than shipping crates 
nailed together, and all of the price signs were neatly hand 
written and tacked in odd places.  The shelves contained all 
of the little things you might need to run a household or a 
farm.  There was even a plow sitting in the corner.
      "Hello?"  Ryouga-chan asked tenatively as she looked 
around for the proprietor.
      "Just a second!"  a rusty voice called from somewhere 
in the back of the store.  Ryouga-chan stood patiently until 
an old man peeked around a doorframe.
      "Hi there sweetie, what can I do fer ya?" he asked 
while giving a toothy grin.
      "I was wondering if you could tell me where I can find 
a place to sleep?" The old man rubbed at his chin.
      "Well, tha tavern's got a few rooms.  I was about ta 
head over there and git me a drink, I could show ya tha way 
iffen you can wait a sec.  You don't mind waiting, do ya 
sweetie?"  Ryouga-chan smiled in relief.
      "I can wait."  The old man cackled as he walked back to 
the counter and finished making a few entries into a large 
ledger.
      "It'll be a sec.  Gotta get finished up with tha books 
before I go,"  He peered at her, "Be a dear and turn tha sign 
around?"  Ryouga-chan nodded and turned the cardboard sign 
around in the window.  When she turned around, she found 
herself face to face with the old man.  She yelped and fell 
over backwards.  The old man cackled again as he offered a 
hand to help her up.
      "Sorry 'bout that.  Didn't mean to startle ya, don't ya 
worry none I'm harmless."  Ryouga-chan struggled to her feet.
      "That's all right, I just thought it would take you 
longer to finish up.  Lead the way." She opened her umbrella 
and held it over the man as he locked the door.  As they 
walked down the road, the old man prattled on about little 
day to day things.
      The tavern was a two story wooden building with a 
column of smoke coming from the chimney, indicating that 
there was a cheery fire inside.  The storekeeper held open 
the door for Ryouga-chan, who was a little flustered at the 
attention the old man was giving her.  
      Inside, it seemed more like an oversized living room 
than a tavern.  There was a bar on the far wall, and around 
the fireplace there were several couches with small tables in 
front of them.  The tables had various game boards on them, 
everything from checkers to go.  A few of the games were 
occupied by men of various ages cheerfully talking and 
smoking as they played.
      In one corner, a child no older than twelve was playing 
a cheerful tune on a piano.  Scattered around the rest of the 
room were small tables.  Upon the walls were old paintings 
with ornate wooden frames right next to old tools and lengths 
of rope.  The peculiar odor of hickory and tobacco smoke 
lingered in the air.
      "This is a tavern?"  Ryouga-chan asked unbelievingly.  
The old man laughed at her comment.
      "Were ya expectin' to see one of those seedy bars you 
find in tha city?"
      "Well, not really.  I just haven't ever seen a place 
quite like this."  She scratched the back of her head 
nervously.  The old man cackled again, and gently pushed her 
inside.  A rather stout man behind the bar waved at them.
      "Hey there Ryuichiro, who's the cutie with you?"  The 
man spoke loudly, and was grinning wickedly at Ryouga-chan.  
Ryuichiro claimed a stool, and sat on it with apparent 
relief.
      "She says she's lookin' fer a place ta spend tha night, 
and I think she means alone Kwang,"  He cackled as he gave 
Kwang a broad wink.  Ryouga-chan looked flustered at their 
exchange, and the barkeep noticed this.
      "Now now, don't get yourself worked up.  We're just two 
old friends digging at each other over something that 
happened a long time ago." He waved at a chalkboard behind 
him, "All of my prices are right there, and if you don't have 
enough cash I'm sure I can find an odd job or two for you to 
work for your room."
      "Thanks," Ryouga-chan said as she dug her wallet out.  
She pulled out several bills and handed them to Kwang, "Is 
that enough for dinner and the room?" He grinned broadly at 
her.
      "More than enough sweetie!  Why don't you take a seat, 
and I'll get ye some food."  Ryouga-chan nodded and walked to 
the nearest table.  She dropped her ruck before sinking into 
the chair with a sigh.  She didn't realize how tired she was 
until she had sat down.  It didn't take very long for her to 
drift into a deep sleep.
      The barkeep chuckled to himself as he watched her fall 
asleep in the chair.  He gestured to the old man.
      "Come on, let's let her rest while we play a game of 
shoji."
      "Hah, you ain't gonna win this one!"  Ryuichiro cackled 
as he rose and followed his friend over to the couches.

      At the opposite side of the room, a burly man sat 
glaring around the room and drinking straight from a bottle 
of whiskey.  The waitresses avoided even looking in his 
direction, and the unfortunate ones that he waved down or 
called over could not escape without a pat on the butt from 
him.  He had the kind of huge muscles people get when all 
they do all day long is carry heavy sacks around or digging 
ditches.  Unfortunately for him, his face was twisted and 
scarred from an accident involving some wild dogs.  Now no 
girl would even spare him a second glance.  This had soured 
him greatly towards women.  To top off his sorrows, he had 
just lost his job for making improper advances towards his 
employer's daughter.
      He growled to himself as he took another pull from the 
bottle, hoping to drown his sorrows in the strong drink.  He 
looked around the room again, hoping for a miracle, but all 
he saw was the same old crowd.  Then he spied Ryouga-chan 
snoozing peacefully away, oblivious to the world.  He took a 
quick pull from the bottle to gather his courage before he 
approached her.  When he reached her table, he noticed how 
her soaked shirt clung to her skin.  His drunken mind slowly 
pondered the situation.  Here was a girl that was a stranger 
in town, probably drunk, and would not be missed by a 
companion.  He looked about the room and saw that no one was 
paying attention to him.
      With a drunken smile, he picked up her ruck and slung 
it over his shoulder before he gathered her into his arms.  
Ryouga-chan only shifted slightly in her sleep.  The man 
swaggered towards the stairs and managed to get upstairs and 
out of sight before anyone spotted him.  He moved into one of 
the guestrooms and barred the door before setting Ryouga-chan 
onto the bed.  He stood there looking at her for a minute, 
drinking in the sight of her.  He then moved into a position 
over her, slipped a hand into her shirt and began to kiss her 
deeply...

      Ryouga-chan's pleasant dream of a sunny day and a 
picnic with her friends turned suddenly into a nightmare.  
Her friends disappeared, and the blanket they were sitting on 
morphed into a gigantic python.  Without warning, it was 
wrapping itself around her, moving in and out of her clothes.  
Her skin crawled as the cold scales slid smoothly across her 
skin.  She struggled against the coils, but they only 
tightened around her.  The snakes massive head moved to look 
her in the eye, it's tongue darting in and out of her mouth.  
Disgusted, she tried to turn her head, but the snake merely 
move a coil to hold her head in place.  With a sudden move, 
the snake lunged to take her head into its mouth...

      Ryouga-chan's eyes opened to a different type of 
nightmare.  What she had dreamt was a snakes coils was 
actually the man moving his hands over her body, and the man 
was kissing her.  Her eyes burned with an inner rage as she 
head butted the man.  His head snapped back, but he remained 
conscious.  He slapped her hard enough to stun her 
momentarily.
      "Learn your place woman!"  he snapped.   Ryouga-chan 
kicked him solidly in the chest, but he didn't move.  He 
laughed at her efforts.
      "Horses have kicked me in the chest for years!  You 
ain't gonna hurt me that way!"  he chuckled as he moved to 
restrain her again.  She struggled against him, but laccked 
the proper leverage to do more than slow him down.  Panic 
rose quickly, and was replaced just as fast by rage.
      An inarticulate growl sounded from Ryouga-chan's throat 
as fur quickly grew across her body.  Her once slender arms 
suddenly grew to massive proportions, and her face elongated 
into a muzzle.  The fangs that once served to make her look 
cute grew in length.  Her delicate looking hands became 
vicious looking claws.   To top off the transformation, two 
furry ears popped out of her head above her bandanna.
      The man gaped at Ryouga-lupine until she backhanded 
him.  To his surprise, he flew to one side and crashed into 
the wall.  He struggled to his feet as Ryouga-lupine gathered 
herself into a crouch, her bushy tail swishing back and forth 
in agitation.
      "What the hell are you?"  The man asked a split second 
before Ryouga-lupine pounced him with a feral cry.

      All the patrons in the tavern stopped cold when they 
heard a tremendous crash from upstairs.  The old storekeeper 
glanced over to where they had left Ryouga-chan.  He cursed 
when he saw that the table was empty, and a quick glance 
around the room verified that the blond girl was not in the 
crowd.  Screams of pain from upstairs galvanized the people 
into motion.  They rushed up the stairs and gathered around 
the door that the farm hand had gone through.
      As they approached the door, it exploded into a 
thousand splintered pieces as the farm hand crashed through 
it and lay there screaming.  His body was covered with small 
scratches and several large bruises.  As they were gaping at 
him, they heard something smash through the window.  The 
barkeep ran into the room to survey the damage.
      The mattress had a huge rent in it, exposing the 
springs.  The rest of the furniture had been smashed.  The 
glass window was broken and it had one shutter hanging limply 
by a single hinge.  As the barkeep approached the window, the 
hinge gave way and the shutter clattered to the ground below.  
He peered out a window and barely caught a glimpse of a red 
bamboo umbrella with what looked like a bushy gray tail 
peeking out from under it before it disappeared around the 
corner.
      Several of the waitresses were trying to help the farm 
hand, but he had curled into a fetal position and was 
gibbering in fear.  They rolled him over to see if there were 
any more cuts on him, and what they saw made them scream in 
terror.  There were three bloody gashes going from his 
forehead to his chin, his eye had been reduced to a bloody 
mass and his ear looked like it was halfway cut off.
      "My lord..."  one of the men there breathed.

      Ryouga-lupine was sprinting through the forest, not 
daring to look back.  The air was cold, but her fur kept her 
warm, even though the rain had soaked her despite the 
umbrella.  ::Gotta get away before they see me!::  Ryouga-
lupine thought.  Eventually, she stumbled and fell.  She 
rolled into a crouching position and looked around, eyes and 
ears straining for any signs of pursuit or danger.  Sensing 
nothing, Ryouga-lupine relaxed and took in her surroundings.
      She was in a small clearing with several large rocks 
scattered about.  A quick glance confirmed that she had 
tripped over a fire pit with rocks around it in a rough 
circle.
      "Son of a... I'm back at the place where I started to 
train Feather."  Heartened a little by this discovery, she 
broke out her tent and quickly set it up.  Just as Ryouga-
lupine finished tying the last line, the rain ceased.  She 
glared up into the night sky and shook a clawed fist.
      "Figures you'd wait till I was done getting shelter!!"  
She shouted before she pulled a towel from inside the ruck, 
dried off and retired for the night, burying herself in the 
sleeping bag. 

      Ryouga-lupine woke sometime the next morning, thanks to 
someone poking at her with a pitchfork.  She reacted 
instantly by snapping the end of the pitchfork off and 
kicking her unwanted visitor in the stomach.  The person that 
had poked at Ryouga-lupine gasped in shock and surprise as 
they fell out of the tent.  Ryouga-lupine burst from the tent 
only to see an unconscious young woman, still grasping the 
broken haft of the pitchfork.
      "Just great," Ryouga-lupine sighed to herself as she 
started to build a small fire.  Once the fire was started, 
she pulled her sleeping bag out of the tent and draped it 
over her unconscious visitor.  As she did so, she noticed 
that the girl's black hair was interrupted at the temples by 
a pink stripe on either side.  She turned and started to heat 
some water over the fire.
      ::I think I'm going to need this fast..::  Ryouga-
lupine glanced back at the girl, ready to bolt if she woke 
before the water was warm enough.  After what seemed like an 
eternity, the water was hot enough and she dumped the water 
over herself quickly.
      "That's more like it!"  Ryouga exclaimed as he tapped 
his shoulder a few times with his fist.
      A crashing noise in the bushes caused him to stop 
congratulating himself and drop into a ready stance.  He 
strained his ears for any other noises, and is rewarded by 
another crash behind him.  Ryouga spun on his heel and came 
nose to snout with the biggest pig he'd ever seen!  He 
instinctively leapt back a short distance and gaped at the 
pig.  The pig squealed angrily and charged Ryouga.
      "Gyaah!"  Ryouga dodged the pig's attack and grabbed 
his umbrella.  The pig trampled his tent as it turned to 
attack him again.  Ryouga snarled at it and kicked it in the 
head followed by a crushing blow from his umbrella.  The pig 
snorted at him and started to charge.
      "Leave off you hard headed beast!"  Ryouga yelled as he 
headbutted the pig.  The pig's eyes glazed over and 
collapsed.  Ryouga snorted as he grabbed his ruck and left, 
forgetting about the girl under his sleeping bag.

      Akari Unryuu woke with a splitting headache.  She 
groaned as she sat up, clutching at the sleeping bag that she 
was under.  ::Sleeping bag?::  She thought as she blinked her 
eyes into focus.  What she saw stunned her.
      The clearing had bits and pieces of the tent she was 
investigating all over, and her prize pig, Katsunishiki, was 
plopped onto one side.
      "Katsunishiki!"  She cried out as she scrambled over to 
the fallen pig, "Are you alright?" she asked the pig gently 
as she lifted its huge head onto her lap.  She glanced about 
and noticed that there was no sign of whomever was in the 
tent.  She sighed.
      "All I wanted was to find out if they wanted to have 
breakfast at the farm, and if it was a boy, maybe fight 
Katsunishiki..."  She looked at the sleeping bag, "I guess 
they felt bad about hitting me, and put their sleeping bag 
over me because they were worried I'd catch cold; but 
Katsunishiki must've scared them off."  She stood with a 
determined expression on her face.
      "I'll find you!  I'll never forget your kindness of 
heart nor your strength!"  She declared to the sky.  
Somewhere in the distance, Ryouga sneezed.

      Classes were just about to start one morning a few days 
later at Furinkan High when Ranma, Akane and Feather dashed 
into the classroom.
      "Hurry up and sit down!"  Ukyou hissed at them, 
"Someone said that Miss Hinako is in a bad mood this 
morning."  Ranma snickered.
      "I wonder why?"  Ukyou shot a startled look at her 
fiancee.
      "What happened Ran-chan?"
      "Oh, nothing..." Ranma trailed off when Miss Hinako 
walked into the room.  The diminutive teacher was covered 
from head to toe in mud.  She tried to smile for the class 
while the class tried to hold back their laughter.
      "Good morning class!  I just want to remind all of you 
to stay away from the mud puddles!  They're deeper than they 
look..." The class couldn't take it anymore when they 
realized that she knew that from personal experience and they 
burst into laughter.  Miss Hinako frowned at the class, 
causing an instant silence.
      "Ok, that's better.  This mornings class will be a self 
study period, so study hard boys and girls!"  Miss Hinako 
waved as she left the room.  The students waited a minute 
before to be sure she was gone before letting out a cheer.  
The teens quickly formed groups and started talking or 
playing cards, very little studying was actually done.  
Several of the girls in the class, including Akane, Feather 
and Ukyou, were giggling as they read a tabloid.  Ukyou 
frowned as she read one.
      "Hey, check this one out...  'Man mauled by werewolf 
girl-friend, lost his eye in battle' hmm..." Under the 
headline was a picture of an obviously fake werewolf, and a 
man with one side of his face covered in bloody bandages.  
Ukyou shot a glance at Akane and Feather before she 
continued, "It says here that this guy was ending a fun date 
with his girlfriend when they noticed that a full moon was 
rising.  He said she started to growl low in her throat at 
him and started to grow fur.  Less than a second later, she 
was a combination of a wolf and a woman and doing her best to 
bite him.  He claims to have fended her off with a silver 
belt buckle,"  Ukyou snorted, "Can you girls believe this 
stuff?"
      "Ooh, it sounds scary!" Kameko faked a trembly voice 
before she started to giggle uncontrollably.  While the girls 
were still giggling over that, Ranma walked over with a 
newspaper.
      "Hey, check this out," Ranma plopped the paper over the 
tabloid, "Check out what happened to this dude from a village 
near Osaka."  Ranma pointed to a small article, "It says here 
that this guy apparently tried to force himself on a girl 
that was passing through town but she was like a kunnoichi or 
something.  Says here that she slashed him in the face with 
some metal claws.  Check out the police drawing of her."  
Ranma pointed to a rough sketch of a girl.  Despite the 
vagueness of the sketch, it was easily recognizable to Akane 
and Feather.
      "Oh my word!" Feather exclaimed as she snatched the 
paper out of his hands.  She frantically read the whole 
article.  Kameko looked over Feather's shoulder and let out 
her own gasp of surprise.
      "Check this out!  Look at this picture of the guy in 
the paper, and this one here in our tabloid," she moved the 
pictures side by side, and they saw it was the same photo.  
Ranma ran a quick eye over the tabloid story.  Feather sat 
mutely in her chair, seemingly staring at the wall.  
      Akane watched Feather with growing worry.  She thought 
that the red headed girl might get a little rash.  Her fears 
were realized when Feather stood suddenly, startling the 
others, and snatched the page that had the police sketch of 
Ryouga-chan.
      "Ranma, tell the teacher I had to go," Feather said as 
she sprinted for the window.  Ranma made a grab for her, but 
the desks slowed him enough to allow Feather to jump out the 
window and into the branches of the tree.
      "Feather!  Where are you going?" Akane yelled as Ranma 
leapt out the window after his sister.  There was no response 
other than the tree branches shaking violently as Ranma tried 
desperately to prevent Feather from running off.  Autumn 
leaves exploded violently as Ranma and Feather leapt straight 
into the air.  Feather snapped her wings out causing her to 
slow down just enough for Ranma to grab onto her foot.  
Feather flapped her wings rapidly to make up for his weight.
      "Damn it Feather, think about this for a minute!  This 
is Ryouga we're talking about here, he could be anywhere by 
now!"  Ranma shouted as Feather gained altitude and started 
to fly in the general direction of Osaka.
      "Yes, he could be anywhere, or he could be hurt badly.  
We don't know exactly how much that guy was able to do before 
Ryouga was able to change."  Feather reached down for Ranma's 
hand.  Ranma gave her a blank look.  "Come on dummy, as long 
as you're with me, you can help.  But you can't do that if 
you accidentally let go of my leg!" Ranma grimaced at her a 
little before his face fell into a resigned expression.
      "Fine, how do you want to do this?  I uh, I'm not sure 
how I should hold on..." She yanked him till they were almost 
face to face.
      "Just wrap your arms around my shoulders.  I'll loop my 
arms under yours."
      "Can't we just walk?" He asked a little plaintively as 
he looked down.  Feather shook her head.
      "We can move a lot faster this way.  Look around 
Ranma."  Ranma looked down and his eyes nearly bugged out of 
his head.  He looked around rapidly.
      "I don't see a sign of Tokyo!  Nothing but woods, this 
is incredible!" Ranma exclaimed.  Feather laughed at Ranma's 
excitement.
      "Did you think they were just for show?" She had a 
faint frown, "I found out fast I could fly last time I went 
looking for Ryouga."
      "Pretty useful at that," Ranma said quietly as he 
looked at the rapidly moving countryside.  "Head for Osaka 
first.  Sometimes it takes him a week just to get out of 
town."
      "Right!" she flapped her wings harder in excitement.  
Ranma shook his head a little.
      "Save your strength, we'll need it to get back to the 
dojo tonight," Ranma cautioned.
      "We're not going back until we find him!"
      "Without any supplies and such a pitiful amount of 
money between us that we can barely afford one meal, maybe 
two?  Come on, let's be realistic here, we need supplies and 
we have nothing to get them with."  Feather slowed to hover 
in the air.
      "I uh... I guess I wasn't thinking..." Feather said 
sheepishly.
      "Don't worry about it.  Let's head back to the dojo, 
ok?  Ryouga'll be just fine." Ranma said reassuringly.  
Feather slowly circled around to make their way back to the 
dojo.  She did not fly as rapidly though.

      Ryouga cursed that huge pig for the umpteenth time as 
he wove together branches to make a lean-to.  Time and time 
again a branch would snap out of the weave to hit Ryouga in 
the face, and each time that happened Ryouga would walk a few 
steps away from his task to keep himself from destroying it.  
With a growl of determination, Ryouga tied the branch that 
kept snapping out into the weave with a small bit of red 
string.
      "That'll hold you down!" He grinned triumphantly at the 
stubborn branch.  He continued on his task, and absently kept 
watch on the errant branch.  The branch would wiggle and 
shift within the constraints of the string.  Then, with an 
audible snap, the branch broke from the strain.  Ryouga 
snorted at the branch and then he paused.  He looked over at 
the red string that was slowly unraveling itself from the 
branches.  The string was held up partially by the wind, and 
almost seemed to be weeping.  Apparently making a decision, 
he untangled the string from the weave, removed the broken 
bit of branch and wrapped the red string around the top of 
the piece of wood securely.  He rummaged through his ruck 
until he found a ball of twine, and he took about an arm 
length from the ball.  He then tied the twine to the red 
string and held his impromptu amulet before his eyes.
      "This branch is what my life is like, always fighting 
the inevitable it seems," Ryouga ran his callused thumb over 
the rough piece of wood, "Will I be broken too, like this 
wood?" he muttered under his breath before he slipped the 
twine over his head and then continued on his work.  He used 
the twine to carefully tie leaves together and lashed them 
onto his weave of branches.  A short time later, he huddled 
underneath the lean-to wrapped tightly in his travel cloak.
      "How could I have forgotten that I put my sleeping bag 
over that girl?" His teeth chattered as he mumbled to 
himself.  He grunted as he pulled the cloak tighter around 
himself and tried to get to sleep.  He had barely closed his 
eyes when he heard a crashing noise.  Ryouga sat up sharply, 
his eyes and ears straining for any other sign of 
disturbance.  Less than a minute later he heard another 
crashing noise from a short distance away.  Ryouga tensed, 
ready for anything... Or he thought he was ready for 
anything.
      A tremendously huge pig burst out of the bushes in 
front of him.  Ryouga yelled in surprise and dove for his 
umbrella.  He snatched it and stood protectively in front of 
his lean-to.
      "Oh no you don't you oversized porker!" He growled, 
"You ain't wrecking this one!" The pig snorted at him, and he 
heard a feminine giggle.  He shifted his gaze and could now 
make out a young woman riding the back of the pig.
      "I'm sorry about your tent, sir," she said as she slid 
off the back off the pig, "And I wanted to return this to 
you." She took a step forward, and the moonlight played 
across her face.  Ryouga's eyes widened in recognition.
      "You!  You're the one that poked me with a pitchfork a 
couple of days ago, right before that pig trampled my tent!"  
Ryouga snarled at the pig.  Akari took a step back, sensing 
the hostility in the air.  Katsunishiki snorted at him and 
charged.  Ryouga danced out of the pig's way, and grabbed its 
curly tail.
      "You ain't wrecking this one swine!" Ryouga yelled as 
he pulled.  The pig grunted and turned to face the lost boy.  
The gargantuan pig reared back to trample his opponent.  It 
let out a startled squeal when Ryouga leaped between its legs 
to grapple with it directly.  Ryouga grunted with the 
exertion of lifting the pig over his head before he slammed 
it to the ground.  The ground trembled slightly from the 
impact, causing Akari to lose her balance.
      "That'll teach you pig."  Ryouga growled at it before 
he turned back towards his lean-to.  Akari rushed up to him.
      "That was amazing!  Here," she handed him his sleeping 
bag and a small note, "Come Katsunishiki, let's go," The pig 
did not move, "Katsunishiki?" she asked softly as she 
gingerly walked over to the giant pig.  Ryouga dropped his 
sleeping bag under the lean-to and walked over to where Akari 
was kneeling next to the pig.
      "What's wrong?" he asked.  She faced him with a forlorn 
look.
      "I think Katsunishiki might be hurt..." Ryouga almost 
said something derogatory about the pig, but stopped himself 
before he totally put his foot in his mouth and bit down 
hard.  Instead he carefully looked the pig over and noted 
it's shallow breathing.  Akari jumped into action as well, 
and began to examine the pig.
      "I think he just got the wind knocked out of him," 
Ryouga said finally, "I can't find anything obvious."  Akari 
peeked over the other side of the pig.
      "I think you're right.  I guess he's never been hit 
that hard before."  Ryouga looked up at her.
      "What was that all about anyway?  It seems like every 
time I see this pig, it tries to kill me.  What is it, an 
attack pig?"  Akari giggled at him.
      "He's a sumo pig," Ryouga gave her a blank stare, 
"They're fighting pigs.  The biggest and the best have come 
from my family's farm for generations.  I'm Akari Unryuu."  
She held a hand out to Ryouga.
      "Ryouga Hibiki," he gently shook her hand, "Uhm, look.  
I'm sorry I beat up your ride home.  Why don't you rest here 
tonight, and I'll take you home tomorrow ok?" Akari looked 
startled.
      "Oh.  I guess that would be ok," Akari looked a little 
flustered.
      "I'll keep watch for a while." Ryouga walked over to a 
rock and sat upon it.  Akari smiled at him and settled into 
the sleeping bag for the night.

      Early the next morning, Akari was rudely awakened by 
Ryouga.  He was roughly shaking her shoulder and yelling.
      "We have to go!  Now!" He yelled.  She could hear 
Katsunishiki squealing in panic, and could smell smoke.
      "What, what's going on?" She asked blearily.  Ryouga 
quickly picked her up and started to run, the pig right 
behind him.
      "Looks like a forest fire started last night," He 
nodded his head towards a red glow in the early dawn sky, 
"It's too early for sunrise, and I smell smoke." Akari 
grabbed around his neck in fright.
      "What can we do?  If there is a fire, it'll overtake us 
before we get clear of the woods!"
      "I'll figure something out!" Ryouga said as he leapt 
over a gully, "I have no intention of dying here!" Akari 
looked behind them and saw that smoke was obscuring the sky 
behind them.  The early morning chill was slowly giving way 
to the heat from the fire.
      He ran headlong through the woods, holding Akari with 
one arm and fiercely smacking branches out of his way with 
the other.  They could hear the crackle of the fire now.  
Akari watched as her prize pig thundered up behind them.
      "Katsunishiki!  Find water!  Water!" She screamed.  The 
pig grunted and charged ahead of Ryouga.  "Follow 
Katsunishiki Ryouga!  He'll find us a river or a lake to take 
refuge in from the fire!"  Ryouga nodded and changed course 
to follow the pig.  Flights of birds took off as they passed, 
startled by their passing.
      Akari glanced behind them and swallowed hard.
      "Uhm, Ryouga?"
      "What?"
      "Can you run any faster?  That fire is catching up with 
us..." Ryouga spared a glance.  Ryouga muttered a curse and 
started to run faster.
      Katsunishiki crashed through a thicket almost ten 
meters in front of them and disappeared from sight with a 
startled squeal.  Ryouga gritted his teeth and ran as fast as 
he could while he pulled his umbrella off of the top of his 
pack.
      "Hang on tight!" he said as he ran through the thicket, 
ignoring the branches that clung at him or whipped his face.  
Akari buried her face in his shoulder and clung to him with 
all her strength.  Suddenly they burst out of the thicket and 
were two paces away from a cliff.  With a resounding yell, he 
leapt off of the cliff... 

      Fire fighters tramped through the charred remains of 
the forest.  They were looking for any signs of campers that 
might have been in the area.  Several of them were talking as 
they searched.
      "Good thing we had that rain not that long ago, this 
coulda been worse."
      "No kidding.  It made it to the cliff before we were 
able to contain it."  They walked a little further in silence 
when they came across a partially melted kettle.  One of them 
looked around a little and saw the remains of a small fire 
pit.
      "Damn.  Looks like there were campers here."
      "This ain't the area where it started is it?" The other 
shook his head.
      "Naw, it started almost a kilometer from here." They 
rummaged through the ashes, looking for anything else.  One 
of them stopped digging through the ashes and held up a 
partially burnt sleeping bag.  He turned it slightly and read 
aloud the tag that was on it.
      "'Property of Ryouga Hibiki.  If found, please return 
to the Tendo Dojo.' Crap, looks like this guy left in a 
hurry."
A younger firefighter spoke up then.  "Maybe he made it to 
safety..."
A veteran shook his head.  "The only way he could've escaped 
was to run like a madman to the cliff and jump off.  Unless 
this guy was a cliff diver or had a parachute, I don't think 
he made it."  They hung their heads a little before the 
veteran fireman spoke up again.
      "Ok guys, you know the drill." He held out a fistful of 
straws, "Shortest one informs the next of kin..."

      Ranma, Akane and Feather were on their way home from 
school when they noticed a firefighter, still in soot stained 
clothes, gathering the courage to knock on the gate.  He was 
holding a black plastic bag and had a dejected look on his 
face.  Akane approached the man.
      "Can I help you sir?" She asked evenly.  The 
firefighter turned towards her.
      "Is this the Tendo Dojo?"  Akane nodded, "I, uh, I'm 
here to... Damn I hate this..." Akane gave him a curious 
look.
      "Hate what?" She asked.  He didn't answer directly, 
instead he opened the plastic bag and pulled out a burnt 
sleeping bag and handed it to Akane.
      "Did you hear about the forest fire this morning?" 
Akane nodded, "We found that in the ashes.  I'm sorry." He 
bowed to her.  Ranma and Feather stood on either side of 
Akane as she turned the sleeping bag over in her hands and 
saw the label.  The reaction was instantaneous.  Akane sank 
to her knees and began to cry while Feather pushed her way 
past them and dashed into the dojo.
      "Aww man,"  Ranma said as he crouched next to Akane, 
"Come on, let's get you inside..."  Once Akane was on her way 
into the dojo. Ranma turned to face the firefighter.
      "Any sign of, you know... Uhm, did you find any real 
proof that he died?"
      "Well, the only way he could have escaped was to sprint 
through the woods and jump off a cliff and survive landing in 
the lake below.  We hadn't found anything when I came out 
here, and they were making their way around the cliff to see 
if he did make it there and jumped.  Right now, he's been 
declared missing.  We'll continue searching until we find 
something."  Ranma nodded.
      "Let us know if you find anything alright?"  The 
fireman nodded as he turned to leave.  Ranma sighed and 
walked into the dojo to try and calm down the girls.
      Akane was sitting in the living room, crying onto 
Kasumi's shoulder.  Kasumi looked up as he entered with an 
expression that seemed to scream 'What's going on here?'  
Ranma sat down next to Akane before he spoke.
      "Some fireman was just here sayin' they think Ryouga 
might've died in a forest fire.  They haven't found a body, 
and he's been declared missing."
      "Oh my, maybe you should go help look for him, Ranma," 
Kasumi said softly.  Ranma looked a little aghast at her 
words.
      "What?  Why?  The firemen are already looking, how 
would that help?"
      "They don't know Ryouga as well as you do.  They don't 
know about his... problem." Ranma's eyes opened wide.
      "Your right Kasumi, and he wouldn't tell them even if 
they did find'em.  I'll go tell Feather and pack to go." 
Akane dashed her tears with the back of her fist.
      "You mean he might be alive?" Ranma nodded.
      "I'll find him one way or another," he said as he 
dashed upstairs.  Once up there, he tapped gently on 
Feather's door.  When there was no answer, he opened it 
quickly and dashed into the room.  Feather was laying on her 
bed staring at the ceiling.  He could see the tracks of her 
tears as he approached the bed.
      "What do you want Ranma?" she asked in a dead voice.  
He sat on the bed next to her.
      "You ran off before the fireman could finish 
explaining," he said gently, "There's a chance that Ryouga is 
still alive, and I'm going to go look for him."  Feather sat 
up quickly.
      "I'm going with you!" she declared, but Ranma shook his 
head.
      "No, I need you to stay here.  Trust me on this, ok 
sis?" She looked like she was about to argue with him, but 
Ranma held up a hand.  "This ain't going to be easy, and I 
really need you to be here for Akane." Feather nodded mutely 
at his words before she embraced him fiercely.
      "Be careful Ranma." Ranma stood and left the room 
quietly.  Feather laid back down on the bed, a faint spark of 
hope was all that kept her from crying again.  She uttered a 
silent prayer that Ryouga would be just fine.

      A pair of mud covered figures lay close to the shore of 
the lake. Katsunishiki nudged one of them with his snout a 
few times before a giggle erupted.
      "I'm ok Katsunishiki!" Akari laughed as she hugged the 
great pig around its neck.  She then looked over to where 
Ryouga still lay in the soft mud.
      "Ryouga?  Are you all right?"  She crawled over to 
kneel next to him.  She tried to pull the ruck off, but 
lacked the strength.  She gestured to the pig, and it grabbed 
the ruck in its teeth and pulled while Akari freed Ryouga's 
arms from the pack.  She turned Ryouga over and embraced him 
fiercely.
      "I thought I was going to die back there!  Thank you so 
much!" She said gratefully.  She paused, however, when she 
noticed something didn't feel quite right.  She separated 
from Ryouga and held her shoulders.
      "Who...Who are you?" she asked the mud-covered girl in 
front of her.
      "I'm Ryouga Hibiki, sorry 'bout this..." she rubbed the 
back of her head in embarrassment.  Akari's jaw dropped and 
she leaned to take a closer look.  Ryouga-chan wiped some of 
the mud off of her face and managed a weak smile.
      "Ryouga?  What happened to you?  Can you change back?  
Are you really a girl?"  Ryouga-chan held up a hand to ward 
off the questions.
      "Whoa!  Why don't we get cleaned up, and I'll tell you 
then ok?"  Akari nodded mutely and they waded back into the 
lake.

      Quite a while later, they had a fire going, and were 
trying to dry out Ryouga-chan's spare clothes.  She told 
Akari her story as she worked on building another lean-to.  
Akari was huddled against Katsunishiki next to the fire.  
      "That's quite a story Ryouga," Akari said when Ryouga-
chan finished talking.  The blond girl nodded and bent to her 
task.  Akari glanced up when she heard a helicopter go 
overhead, but thought nothing of it.
Once Ryouga-chan was done with the lean-to, she rummaged 
through her pack and found her tin mug.
      "What's that for?" Akari asked.
      "I can't find my kettle, and I want to change back," 
she replied as she placed the cup next to the fire and poured 
water from a canteen into it.  As soon as the water was warm 
enough, she dumped it over herself and sighed with relief.
      "That's so neat Ryouga!" Ryouga looked embarrassed at 
her excitement.
      "Yeah, well it ain't that much fun for me..." He let 
his words trail off when he heard something.  Akari noticed 
and looked around.  A few seconds later they heard some 
people yelling and more crashing through the bushes.  Ryouga 
grabbed his umbrella and tensed.  A minute later a group of 
firemen burst upon their camp.  While two of them rushed over 
to where Akari and Ryouga were, the last one spoke into a 
walkie-talkie.
      "We think we found them."

      Ranma was just preparing to leave the dojo when the 
phone rang.  Kasumi broke away from the farewells to answer 
it.
      "Hello Tendo Dojo, may I help you?" She asked sweetly.  
She nodded a few times as she spoke over the phone.  Less 
than a minute later, she had hung up the phone and walked out 
to where Ranma and the others were.
      "You can put your things away Ranma," He looked at her 
with a blank expression.
      "What do you mean Kasumi?"
      "That was from the fire department.  They found Ryouga 
and a friend of his, and they are bringing them here.  Isn't 
that sweet of them?" Ranma fell over backwards at the news.  
Feather suddenly wore a bright smile.
      "They found him?  How long until they bring him home?  
Is he alright?" Kasumi laughed as the flood of questions 
washed over her when the rest of the family found their 
voices.
      "He's fine, and they are going to bring them here once 
they get done making sure they are ok." Nabiki got a 
thoughtful look on her face.
      "You keep saying 'they' Kasumi.  Who's with Ryouga?"
      "I'm not sure.  A friend of Ryouga's I think." Ranma 
threw his hands up in the air.
      "Who cares!  The important thing is that he's ok, 
right?"  Akane nodded.
      "Right!"
      They settled into the living room to wait.  Time seemed 
to pass slowly as they stared at each other in silence.  
After a short time, Soun and Genma started to play shoji.  
Soon, everyone was watching the game with feigned interest.
      "You should move that piece there Uncle Saotome," 
Nabiki pointed to a piece.  Genma nodded gravely and moved 
the piece.  Soun glared at Nabiki.
      "What do you have against your father Nabiki?"
      "Oh nothing..." Nabiki smiled at her father.
      "I'm going to start fixing dinner," Kasumi announced as 
she stood.  Soun nodded absently as he considered his next 
move.  With a grand flourish, he took the piece that Nabiki 
had advised Genma to move.
      "There!  That will teach you!" he crowed with delight 
over his victory.  Nabiki shook her head.
      "You might as well concede Daddy, he'll win in ten 
turns."
      "Have faith in your father, Nabiki," Soun said 
seriously.  Nabiki hid a small smile behind her hand as she 
watched the two men cheat against each other outrageously.
      Akane, Feather and Ranma had taken to watching the 
television when they heard a knock on the door.
      "I'll get it!"  Feather yelled as she leapt to her feet 
and ran for the door.  Akane and Ranma were right behind her.  
Feather yanked the door open and looked outside, before she 
fell backwards with a startled shout.  Sitting on the 
doorstep was the biggest pig she had ever seen.  Ranma came 
around the corner, and when he saw the pig he let out a low 
whistle.
      "Whoa!  Hey P-chan, you've gotten a little fat!" He 
started to laugh before Akane hit him on the back of his 
head.
      "That's not P-chan you idiot!" she snarled before she 
walked up to the door, "Hello?"
      "Akane!  Hi there!" Ryouga said cheerfully as he 
stepped around the pig.  Akari stepped into sight as well.
      "Ryouga!  Glad to see you're ok." Akane said cheerfully 
before she turned to yell into the house, "Ryouga's back!" 
Akari stepped back nervously as Feather and Ranma rushed out 
to greet Ryouga.
      "Hey man, glad you ain't dead!" Ranma chuckled.
      "Shut up, Ranma!" Ryouga said in a mock serious tone.  
Feather just stood there smiling happily, waiting for Ryouga 
to say something.
      "Who is that with you?" Akane said as she noticed 
Akari.  Akari stepped forward and gave a little bow.
      "Hi, my name is Akari Unryuu, and I'm Ryouga's 
fiancee!"


End of chapter 9


And the heavy end of the hammer falls, ne?

Comments and criticism welcome,  E-mail me at:
atarukun@usa.net
All previous chapters are stored at:
http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/bay/5151