Never, never lost.
Part 4
Operation Rescue Akane.
Ranma Saotome stood on the edge of a great bay; out in the water
floating on the tides in the distance was a large wooden ship.
"Now what Ranma, we can't get to it way out there!" snapped Ryoga
bitterly.
"The hell we can't, I don't have the same problem as you P-chan. I'll
get us across and we'll change back when we get there."
"Or you could just fly over there," said a familiar voice. Both boys
whirled around to find the fairy flitting beside them.
"I thought you were going to find those lost jerks or something,"
snorted Ranma.
"I was going to take you to them, but there's no point now. You
obviously don't want to come with me," said the fairy girl.
"Who are you calling P-chan!?" snapped Ryoga as he hit Ranma from
behind. After the pigtailed boy fell to the ground he turned towards the
tiny girl. "What do you mean fly? We can't fly,"
"Of course you can, you just have to find your happy thoughts. We used
to do this all the time, it's a fun game!" cried the girl excitedly.
Ranma stood up and glared at her. "This isn't a game, Akane's over
there." He turned around with his back to her and spoke to Ryoga. "You
ready?"
"I just hope you can find us some hot water before the fighting starts,"
snorted the lost boy in reply.
"Swimming there is a bad idea," said the tiny girl as she floated around
Ranma's head.
"It's not that far, if I can swim to China I can certainly handle this,"
snapped the boy as he jumped in the water.
Ryoga was about to follow but stopped and cocked his head. "What's that
ticking noise?"
Ranma burst from the water with her clothes in shreds soaking Ryoga in
the process of escaping the massive jaws that snapped just behind her.
The creature behind the teeth did not follow her out and slowly sank
beneath the waves. She stopped and panted while staring at the water in
shocked fear.
"To think, all that training I did while fighting Mr. Turtle actually
came in handy..." she thought to herself.
"Bwee!" said Ryoga.
"I warned you," said the fairy.
"Shut up! What the hell was that thing?" cried Ranma as she pointed at
the water.
"That was just the crocodile, he's about fifty feet long and has a real
nasty temper. You're just lucky he's gotten so big that he doesn't like
coming out of the water anymore. It wouldn't be a good idea to swim to
that ship, your best bet is to fly there."
"And how the hell are we supposed to do that?" snapped the red haired
girl.
The fairy girl flitted around and dusted the boys again in the strange
gold dust that she seemed to leave behind her. "Simple, just think a
happy thought."
"Happy thought?" Ranma was beyond confused. "Dinner?" An image of her
father taking food from her plate formed in her mind. "No good, how
about...hmm...martial arts!" Another image of her father holding her over
a pit of cats. She shivered involuntarily "Nope, how
about...uhh...Ucchan?" She felt her body shudder for a moment but
remained on the ground. "Argh! I can't think!"
Ryoga was having trouble of his own. "Pig, Ranma, stupid direction
sense...nope no happiness here."
The pair glared at each other for a moment and looked at the ground in
depression.
"So now what?" said Ranma in his male form again several moments later.
Beside him Ryoga sat staring at him angrily. There was a small fire
between them and they sat in the forest that ran along the beach.
"Shut up! I'm not talking to you! I just remembered how miserable I am
because of you! Shi Shi Houkou Dan!" cried the lost boy as he blasted him
with a huge ball of chi. Ranma recovered quickly and Ryoga tackled his
companion. The pair rolled through the bushes beating on each other for
several minutes with neither gaining an advantage.
"Well, that looks like a fun game and all, but shouldn't you be thinking
about happy thoughts?" asked the fairy cheerfully.
After a short time, Ranma sat with his back to Ryoga looking just as
beaten as the lost boy. "We'll go to these stupid boy's place tomorrow.
Maybe they'll have a way for us to get to that ship."
Ryoga nodded in reluctant agreement.
Akane Tendo grumbled to herself as she scrubbed the deck on her hands
and knees. "Why do I have to clean up this stupid mess?"
"Scrub harder dogs! I want this ship to shine!" cried Hook from the top
of the deck.
Akane glanced around and saw pirates lounging around her; not one of
them was working. She threw the brush on the deck and glared at them.
"What's going on here?"
One of the men blinked at her and smiled. "Everyone knows mother always
cleans the house."
"Oh, she does, does she?" She cracked her knuckles.
"What's the meaning of this ruckus!?" roared Hook angrily as he came
onto the lower deck moments later. His face was a mask of anger and he
paused when he noticed the men working on the deck diligently.
"Nothing, they got blood on my nice clean floor. So now they're cleaning
it up," said Akane from her place. She was sitting in a lounge chair
sipping on what appeared to be a glass of iced tea.
Hook smiled to himself and looked around to see that the men were
covered in bruises and cuts. "Excellent work men." He turned and went
back about his business.
Smee appeared at his side and frowned. "What's going on Captain?"
"Nothing Smee, in a weeks time she won't remember anything but us.
Neverland is starting to effect her. She'll fight beside us when Pan
comes for her, and then he'll fall easily...and she will be one of us
permanently."
"But not too easily sir?" Smee looked almost disappointed.
"Don't worry Smee, has a battle with Pan ever been anything but grand?"
"You're right Captain," said the small man. "But what if Pan doesn't
remember her?"
Hook faltered for a moment and then slowly turned back towards his
second in command. "He'll try to save her anyway. You remember how he
acted when we had that Wendy wench all those years ago?"
"Yes Captain, I do. Thrashed us all soundly he did," replied the second
in command honestly.
Hook lashed out with his arm and stabbed the mast he stood next to. The
smaller man wisely backed away and shut his mouth.
"Indeed he did Smee, but this time will be different." He paused and
stared off into the sunset in the distance and remained that way for
several minutes. The wind blew dramatically through his hair and he
glared at the light with a passion burning in his eyes. "Diffrent, very
different."
He stayed that way for several minutes and seemed to be in quiet
contemplation.
"Smee."
"Yes, Captain?"
"Get the crowbar out."
"Hook stuck again Captain?"
"Shut up and get the damn crow bar Smee."
"Yes, sir."
Akane stared out her window and sighed. Her hammock was in the back of
the kitchen and she stared out at the sunset. She almost regretted the
blue sky fading away, it seemed to remind her of his eyes. She paused and
looked at her hands for a moment. "whose eyes?" After shaking her head in
a vain attempt to remember the name of the boy she pictured in her head
she sighed and looked back out at the sunset.
It was beautiful indeed, perhaps the boy was just a daydream, but he
seemed so real in her mind. A voice faded back into her memory.
"Uncute..."
She found herself growling subconsciously and shook herself awake. "For a
dream boy he's a real jerk." She shrugged her shoulders and jumped into
her hammock. She had a long day ahead of her tomorrow cooking for the
crew.
After a few moments she drifted off to sleep and dreamed of riding
through a field on a wild horse.
Ranma sneezed and sniffled loudly. "Are we there yet? It's getting
late."
"Will you shut up Ranma?" growled Ryoga from behind him.
"Bite me pork butt! This chick is lost," replied Ranma.
"I'm not lost! I just don't know where I'm at!" replied the girl with an
angry embarrassed look on her face.
"See," replied Ranma as he jerked his thumb at her.
"Sounds like she knows where we're going to me," said Ryoga obliviously.
"Of course it does," said Ranma flatly as he turned and continued to
follow blindly.
The fairy girl was holding an oversized map in her hands and was flying
and reading it at the same time. "I'm not sure, but I think we're in 'The
Forest of Big Scary Things That You Should Avoid At Night No Matter
What."
"Hmm, I wonder why they call it that?" said Ryoga obliviously.
Ranma slapped his forehead with his palm and sighed. "Why me? Various
animal sounds filled the air as they trudged on in the darkness.
TBC...
Next time: Ranma and Ryoga meet the lost boys...
C&C to CarrotGlace@juno.com
URL: Http://www.geocities.com/Misatira/