A Feather in the Wind
Chapter 3
As the sun set upon the horizon, Feather sat next to an unconscious Ryouga. She
leaned back, enjoying the simple beauty of the sunset. Eventually, Ryouga regained
consciousness again, and they set out to find their goal, the Tendo Dojo.
"We're in the right town," Ryouga said as they started out, "if our luck holds, we will
be standing on the Tendo's doorstep before nightfall."
"What makes you say that? I'm not sure exactly of where we are."
"You see that school?" Ryouga pointed at Furinkan High, when Feather nodded he
continued, "That's the school Akane goes to. The path between that school and the Tendo
dojo is marked by signs of battle." He rubbed the back of his head, "I don't hold back
whenever I fight Ranma, and he has other enemies that attack him on a regular basis as
well. Ranma has a tendency to leave them imbedded in walls, so all we have to do is
follow the damage and we can't lose!" Ryouga looked impressed with himself. Feather
snorted and crossed her arms.
"And how, pray tell, do we decide which way to go from the gate?" Feather asked,
with just a touch of sarcasm in her voice. Ryouga made a guttural noise and jerked
forward a little. He looked sheepishly over at Feather and put his hand to the back of his
head.
"I guess we'll flip a coin, we'll have a fifty fifty shot anyways." Feathers face started
to turn red with anger, then suddenly she laughed. Ryouga started to laugh with her as
they headed towards the front gates to the school. Neither of them noticed a black-
cloaked man following them. The man spoke briefly into a walkie-talkie, and turned to
continue his surveillance. A small embroidered patch of a viper encircling a blade could
be seen on his shirt.
When Ryouga and Feather reached the gate, they stopped and flipped a coin. They
turned to the left and started to run. After only running for a few minutes, they saw what
looked like a body print in a wall. Ryouga grinned hugely. "Judging by the shape of that
hole, Mousse decided to attack Ranma today." Feather was panting when she replied.
"How do you know it was today?"
"Simple, with all the fights going on, construction companies have gotten real
efficient. The holes from today's fight will be filled in by morning." And as if to prove
Ryouga's point, a pick-up pulled up to the hole and two men jumped out. One of them
started to gather the pieces of the wall, while the other started to mix concrete. Feather
gaped at how quickly and quietly they worked.
"That's amazing!" She gasped out. She was hurting from her fight with Cologne,
but she didn't want to admit it to Ryouga. But her muscles complained constantly about
their use, and her breath was getting short. Suddenly she tripped, and it looked to her like
she was going to smash headfirst into a pole. She closed her eyes and waited for the
inevitable contact.... but it never came. She opened her eyes and looked around. Ryouga,
without even breaking stride, had picked her up and was still running. She was so out of
breath that she wasn't even able to thank him, so instead she just wrapped her arms
around his neck and relaxed.
"I knew it!" Ryouga shouted as he turned a corner, following some broken chains.
Up ahead was the Dojo, and the gates were open with Mr. Tendo sweeping in front. At
Ryouga's shout, Mr. Tendo looked their way, and Feather waved to him. He waited for
the teenagers to stop in front of him to speak.
"Well now, Hello Ryouga, I'm glad to see you made it back. Looks like you and
Feather had a good time on your little trip." Mr. Tendo said as Ryouga put Feather back
on her feet. He winked at Ryouga before he turned and called into the house, "Kasumi!
We have guests for dinner!"
"Yes Father!" Was Kasumi's only response.
"I hope we're not to much of a bother.." Feather started to say, but was interrupted
by Mr. Tendo putting an arm around her shoulders and leading them in.
"Nonsense! We really want to know more about you, and now that you're here, you
can tell us" He grinned hugely, "We've been worried about you since that night, the only
one who wasn't was Ranma. He kept saying that there was no way Ryouga was going to
let you get hurt. I'm glad to see that his faith in his friend was well placed" Mr. Tendo
was practically blabbering as he led them into the dining room. Nabiki was sitting there
reading a stock report. She looked up as they entered the room.
"Well well well, look what daddy found!" She smiled a little, "Don't you too just
look so cute together." Feather blushed, and Ryouga looked fairly uncomfortable as they
sat down at the table. "Don't spare me the details, tell me what happened" Feather gently
punched Ryouga in the arm. He looked startled for a second, then he started to talk.
"After Feather had passed out, I carried her as I ran from those reporters. She didn't
wake up again until a day later. By then, I was outside Osaka. After she woke up, I
loaned her my spare clothes, and we walked into the city...." Ryouga continued relating
their tale as the rest of the Tendos and the Saotomes filtered into the room and listened
intently. When he was finished, Ranma smirked a bit.
"What did I tell you?" Ranma grinned at Akane, "Like I said, he's just too pig
headed to have let anything happen to her," Ryouga glared at him for a second, but
subsided when he realized that this was just Ranma's way of complimenting him. Ranma
looked at Feather, "So, Ryouga's started to train you huh?" Feather nodded and Ranma
grinned. "How good have you gotten?"
"Ranma!" Akane glared at him, "She's only been training for a month! Don't be too
harsh on her, even if Ryouga is a great teacher." She thought back to when Ryouga had
trained her for the rhythmic gymnastics tournament, and more recently, helping to train
her for her rematch with Natsume and Kanumi.
"I'm still not that great," Feather said softly, "But Shampoo's great-grandmother
said I had potential," Feather brightened at this. "She did say something about how my
form didn't seem to be coming naturally to me, though." Feather looked thoughtful, as
did Ranma and Ryouga. Suddenly Ranma snapped his fingers.
"Of course! Feather, show me the stances that Ryouga first taught you..." Feather
stood and demonstrated. Ranma nodded, "Yeah, those stances are well suited to someone
who uses a lot of strength in every strike. What may work better for you would be..."
Ranma stood and showed Feather a slightly different stance, showing her to roll forward
on her toes a little, and flex her knees just a bit differently. "There, is that a lot easier?"
he asked as Feather tried the stance he had just demonstrated for her.
"Wow! This feels a whole lot more natural!" Feather exclaimed. Ryouga looked at
Ranma with a hateful glare. Ranma noticed this and started to sweat.
"Not that the stance Ryouga taught you was bad," Ranma stammered out, "It's just
that he didn't seem to realize that you are a lot lighter. You should still be able to execute
the same moves from that stance, just try and do them a little faster. You may be
surprised at the results!" Ranma sat down, and Ryouga leaned next to him to whisper.
"How did you know that stance was going to work better for her?" He practically
hissed into Ranma's ear.
"Simple," Ranma replied, "I have to use a different stance when I'm a girl 'cus my
balance is different. Even Akane could've told you that that stance pulls a girl off
balance." Ryouga looked stupefied.
"How come I didn't run into that kind of problem whenever I helped train Akane?"
Ryouga asked.
"She already knew her stances stupid."
"What did you call me?" Ryouga started to steam at the casual way Ranma insulted
him.
"What are you two whispering about?" Akane asked as she leaned towards them,
curious.
"N n nnothing Akane!" Ryouga stammered, abruptly sitting up straight. Ryouga
continued to look excessively nervous while Akane was looking his way.
"What's the matter P-chan? Can't admit you learned something from me?" Ranma
taunted. He backed up a little when Ryouga bared his teeth and then lunged for him.
"You're dead Saotome!" he yelled as he threw Ranma out into the yard.
"Cut it out both of you!" Akane practically yelled as she scrambled to get up and
separate the two "friends". Akane was about to rush into the melee, when the two
suddenly stopped fighting, and just stood looking at each other. Confused, Akane went
to stand next to Ryouga.
"What happened?" She asked him. When Ryouga didn't answer, Akane looked at
him in concern. She noticed that he was staring rather intently, but not in hatred at
Ranma. She followed his gaze and smiled a little. At the far side of the lawn, Feather had
been standing, watching the fight with a faint look of disapproval. Akane walked quickly
over to Feather. When she got close, she could see a bit of a tear forming in the corner of
the red-heads eye. "Come on Feather, you look like you need some rest," Akane said,
gently trying to guide the girl inside.
"But Ranma and Ryouga," Feather started to say, but was interrupted by Akane.
"Neither of them will admit it, but they're good friends. I think they fight like this to
keep their edge. They are both really proud, and had started out as rivals," Akane smiled
at the shorter girl, "But with everything they have been through, they have become
friends, and they seem to show it to each other by demonstrating his skill... on each
other." Feather giggled at Akane's viewpoint. Especially since she heard the battle
restart after they had left.
"My interfering has also become part of the game they play. I try to stop them, and
it spurs them on even more." she giggled at that. "Come on Feather, you can tell me
about your wings while they work out..." Akane didn't notice Feather getting very
nervous.
::It's not like I don't want to tell her,:: Feather thought, ::But I can't remember
anything before last year!:: Feather continued to think about how she would get around
telling Akane about her past, unawares of the man watching the dojo from the tree.
A while later, Ranma and Ryouga were sitting in the dojo, utterly exhausted, and
both a bit bruised. Their clothes were torn, and each felt pain in their ribs as they tried to
breath.
"It's not over yet Saotome!" Ryouga stood, albeit unsteadily.
"That's right, pig boy!" Ranma also stood, and he was grinning widely, "We haven't
gotten each other wet yet!"
"Ha! You're not getting me this time Ranma!" Ryouga grinned as he hefted a fire
pail. Ranma grinned and revealed a water pistol. The air between them was thick with
the tension, and neither of them moved. A single bead of sweat fell off of Ranma's chin
as he suddenly raised the water gun and squeezed the trigger. Seeing the motion, Ryouga
hurled the contents of the bucket at Ranma, and did his best to dodge the thin stream of
water Ranma was sending his way. With a loud splash, a pig and a girl looked at each
other from different sides of the dojo, then the girl collapsed laughing, while P-chan did a
piggish equivalent.
Only a few seconds later, they were both young men again, thanks to a steaming
kettle, thoughtfully left behind by the eldest of the Tendo sisters.
"Whoo! I haven't had that much fun since, oh, I'd say that little trip to Togenkyo!"
Ranma laughed out. Ryouga merely grinned as he squeezed out his shirt. "Practicing
with Feather sure has improved you since the last time pig-boy!"
"Heh, and I suppose that you don't think that not being able to fight for almost a
month didn't hurt your abilities? You've gotten soft Ranma! Your chestnut fist was
slower than usual!" Ryouga beamed at Ranma.
"Hah yourself Ryouga!" Ranma replied, still grinning ear to ear, "Your baksai
tenketsu took a whole second to work, and even then the rock barely shattered. What's
wrong? Lose your focus? Maybe you left it with your sense of direction!" Ryouga
glared at Ranma, who returned the look. After a few seconds of mock anger, they both
collapsed laughing again.
"It's good to have you back around Ryouga! I needed a distraction so badly," he
rolled his eyes a bit, "Shampoo has redoubled her efforts since that night, Kodachi is as
crazy as ever, and Akane's had to fight off Kuno at almost every street corner." Ryouga
grunted a bit at the news.
"What about Ukyou?" He asked.
"That's the funny part Ryouga," Ranma scratched his head, "Every time she comes
over, I think she's going to glomp onto me, but instead, she just seems to want to help
Akane get through what happened. Of course, she would still bring over a 'get well'
okonomiaki every day. But like I said, she's just been helping to keep Shampoo and
Kodachi offa me, and Kuno and anyone else offa Akane. Ever since she came over the
day after I got shot, she's been like that, even now when my leg is fully healed, she's still
acting like that." Ranma shook his head, then looked out at the darkening sky. "It's kinda
nice, and Akane seems to enjoy having Ukyou as a friend, but what will happen when I
tell Ukyou that I don't want to marry her..."
Ranma and Ryouga face-faulted as Genma and Mr. Tendo came out of nowhere and
crowded around Ranma.
"Is it true son?" Mr. Tendo asked, tears in his eyes, "You really want to marry my
Akane that badly?" Ranma squirmed within their grip.
"Hey waitaminnit! That ain't what I said! Who said I wanted to marry that un-cute
tomboy anyways!" Ranma yelled as he struggled. Mr. Tendo wailed and grabbed
Ranma's shoulders while bowing his head. Genma moved next to his son with his fist
raised angrily.
"Is this how you show your gratitude boy? This marriage goes beyond personal
wants and desires!" He yelled in his sons ears. Ryouga stood, unnoticed. "It's about
carrying on the anything goes school of martial arts!"
"Oh yeah?!? Well Akane and I think our feelings have an awful lot going into this
pop!" Ranma yelled as Ryouga took a step forward.
"Put aside your anger! Akane is such a sweet young girl! You should be proud to
have her as a fiancee, and you would be even more proud to have her as your wife!"
Genma countered, knowing his son's true feelings for Akane, and was using them against
his son. Ryouga's battle aura flared.
"She can't cook, she's violent, stubborn as a mule, twice as strong!" Ranma fled
behind the cover of the insults. Out of the corner of his eye, Ranma noticed a green
glare. Glancing over, he noticed Ryouga was approaching them angrily.
"Wait Ryouga!" Ranma starts to panic, since it looked like Ryouga was getting
ready to do a full shi shi hokkkodan. Ryouga seemingly ignored Ranma's shout and
charged them. Seeing an uncontrollable Ryouga approaching them rapidly, Genma and
Mr. Tendo scrambled to get out of the way. Ryouga ignored them as he flying tackled
Ranma into the yard. Before Ranma could recover, Ryouga had grabbed the back of his
shirt and jumped over the wall and dragged him down the street.
"Whoa Ryouga! Slow down man!" Ranma desperately twisted around, trying to get
Ryouga to release his grip. Suddenly, Ryouga stopec and let go of Ranma's shirt. They
were at the bank of the river next to the bridge. Ranma stood and looked at Ryouga.
"Ryouga, what's gotten into you?" Ryouga looked wistfully up at the now dark sky.
"Ranma, I, I think I'm starting to get over Akane."
"WHAT?!?!" Ranma yelled as he face faulted. Ryouga turned and looked at the
ground.
"When your father and Mr. Tendo were talking about you marrying Akane, I didn't
get the same kind of pain in my heart. It was almost as if," Ryouga paused as he looked
up, "It felt more like that happy-sad feeling you get when you see a sister or brother
married I think." Ryouga suddenly grabbed Ranma's shoulders. "Be good to Akane
Ranma. I, I don't think I'll be getting in your way anymore." Ranma just looked at him
in shock. Ryouga sighed and sat down. "Your objections to Akane still wound me
Ranma, but, they don't infuriate my like they used too." Ranma's mind was still reeling
from the implications behind Ryouga's words. He sat down next to Ryouga.
"What made you change your mind?"
"I think it started when you dragged Akane and Feather into my house. The way
Akane looked at you while you were passed out, her cry of despair when she realized that
you were badly hurt, the way she was locked in her mind after you were taken to the
hospital. She loves you Ranma," Ryouga looked over at his rival/friend, a sad look on
his face, "Don't make her wait too long, I might kill you for that." Ranma started to
object, but didn't say anything when he saw the expression on Ryouga's face. They sat in
silence for a few minutes, then Ranma spoke.
"So, what are you going to do now Ryouga? If you think you're over Akane, are you
going to try and find your way home?" Ryouga shrugged.
"I thought about that, but it's fun watching you squirm around your fiancees. Also,
our fights are making us stronger." Ranma nodded.
"Yeah, like when you figured out the shi-shi hokkudan, I figured out the mouko
takabisha. And you seem to be stronger and stronger each time we fight. Your one guy
who keeps me on my toes!"
"And someday Ranma, I will defeat you! But this time, it won't be about Akane. It
will be about our skills!" Ryouga took on a determined expression.
"Hah! That'll be the day!" Ranma laughed, "The day you defeat me in a fair fight is
the day I'll kiss Kuno!" Ryouga gagged at Ranma's remark, but then he grinned.
"I hope you don't take those words to heart Ranma." Ranma looked at the stars
again.
"So, you and Feather making plans yet?" Ranma asked nonchalantly.
"What do you mean, plans?" Ryouga asked, his heart suddenly aching.
"I saw how you look at her man. It's the same look you used to give to Akane. I just
figured that since you two were out training together for a month, she might also be
feeling something for you.."
"If only I was that lucky Ranma." Ryouga sighed. "She seems to be haunting my
dreams now, but, I can't get it together enough to ask her out or anything. When I look in
those eyes of hers I...." Ryouga stops, embarrassed.
"I know what you mean. I get the same way whenever Akane smiles at me. Not
that smile when she's about to clobber me, but that smile she has whenever I do the right
thing." Ranma started to fiddle with the grass. "But, before I can say anything to her,
either pops or Mr. Tendo show up out of nowhere, and they try to force us." The grass
he's playing with was forcefully ripped out of the ground. "And then we close up again.
I get so tired of it all, that I want to grab Akane and run for the horizon, maybe getting
lost somewhere and then we would be able to actually talk without being idiots." Ryouga
looked at his friend in sympathy. Then he stood up.
"It's late Ranma, you want to lead me back to the dojo? I kinda want a warm bed
tonight." As if to punctuate his words, the wind started to blow, chilling them both.
Ranma stood without a word and led Ryouga down the streets of Nerima. When they
where about halfway back, Ranma spoke.
"Hey, does she know?"
"Know what Ranma?" Ryouga asked, confused. Ranma rolled his eyes.
"About P-chan. Does she know that your the pig." Ryouga nodded.
"She found out about two weeks ago. She thinks it's cute, and doesn't seem to mind
at all," Ryouga flushed a bit at the memory.......
They were running alongside a highway, side by side. A recent rainstorm had left
puddles alongside the road. Ryouga was dodging the puddles, and encouraging Feather
to leap over them, rather than go around.
"Think of it as training. If you can jump over the puddles without landing in any of
them, you will have made an improvement." Ryouga demonstrated by jumping over a
particularly large one with apparent ease. Feather tried to jump over, but when she saw
she was going to land a bit short, she snapped her wings out and flew to where Ryouga
was standing.
"Don't take the easy way out Feather!" Ryouga chided her, "If you don't make the
jump, you get wet. If you make it, you stay dry." Downcast, Feather walked around the
puddle, and then backed up a few paces to get a running start. She swallowed hard and
then started to run. She jumped right at the edge of the puddle, and it looked like she
would make it. However, she came up about half a foot short, splashing water all over
the place.
"Oh, Ryouga! I'm sorry did I get you wet?" Feather looked all over, but the only
sign of Ryouga was his pack, and some rumpled clothes. Then something under the
clothes started to move. Curious, Feather leaned closer, and was greeted by the sight of a
small black pig wriggling free of the clothes.
"How cute!" She exclaimed as she picked the pig up out of Ryouga's clothes. She
hugged it tightly to her chest, and was rewarded with a gusher of blood coming from the
pig's snout. "Hey! What's the matter with you pig? And why do you have Ryouga's
bandanna.... Bandanna? Nosebleed? Ryouga?!?!?" Feather looked at the pig again, and
it looked like the pig nodded ever so slightly. The pig squealed a little, and rubbed the
side of his head with one hoof.
"How on earth?" Feather was confused. The pig wriggled in her arms, trying to get
free. Feather put the pig down and kneeled in front of it. "Well, are you Ryouga or aren't
you?" The pig responded by scratching the words 'hot water' in the dirt.
"You are Ryouga!" Feather exclaimed, as P-chan nodded vigorously. "And I guess
you mean by writing hot water, that that's what it takes to turn you back!" P-chan nodded
even more vigorously. Feather frantically dug through Ryouga's pack, looking for the
'camping man's helper'(TM) and a pot or anything to heat water in. In short order, she
had dug out the mini stove, a pot, and had scooped up some rain water to be heated. Not
knowing how hot it needed to be, she had boiled the water.
"Here you go!" She said cheerfully as she tossed the pot full of boiling water on
Ryouga.
"OWW!! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT!" Ryouga danced around in pain from the
scalding water, but avoided the cold water like the plague. Feather blushed as she
watched a naked Ryouga dance around. Suddenly Ryouga stopped, and he looked over at
Feather as he belatedly tried to cover himself. His face, and a good portion of his chest
turned red as he fell face first onto the ground.
"That was a good one Ryouga!" Ranma laughed at his story. Ryouga got red faced
with his anger.
"Shut up Ranma! That isn't something to laugh about!" Ryouga yelled.
"But it's so funny! I mean you, teaching someone to jump, over cold water,
knowing that if they fail, you would become P-chan!" Ranma continued to laugh.
"I said shut up!" Ryouga retorted with quite a bit of anger in his voice "It ain't
funny at all!"
They continued on to the dojo, Ryouga was still fuming a bit, and Ranma was
chuckling at him. The star filled night was so peaceful, they felt like nothing could go
wrong now. Kasumi greeted them at the gate.
"Why hello you two." Kasumi greeted them cheerfully, "Your just in time for
dinner, why don't you go and freshen up a bit." Kasumi smiled at them, and then went
into the kitchen to start serving the food. Feather and the rest of the Tendos were already
at the table when Ranma and Ryouga sat down. Feather was looking distinctly
uncomfortable, but as soon as Ryouga was in sight, she visibly relaxed. Akane caught
Ranma's eye and winked. Soon, everyone was too busy eating the delicious meal set
before them to do anything else. After the meal, the two fathers retired to their usual spot
to play shogi, while Feather offered to help clean up afterwards. Kasumi gently, but
firmly, told her that guests should not have to help in the kitchen. Ranma, Ryouga,
Feather, and Akane sat around the living room. Akane was telling the bandanna clad duo
about what happened around the dojo for the last month. Akane carefully omitted about
how she was so worried about Ranma that she had lost sleep over him.
"Feather," Akane asked, "How come you keep avoiding the subject when I ask you
about your past?" Akane gazed at the suddenly nervous girl. Feather fidgeted for a few
minutes, trying to think of a way around that topic. "Well?" Akane urged gently.
Feather stopped fidgeting, and just bowed her head. Ryouga looked worried as he shook
Feather's shoulder.
"Hey! You OK?" he asked. Feather's head snapped up, her eyes full of tears.
"I don't remember okay?!?" she screeched as she quickly stood and left the room.
Outside, a man made a triumphant report into his walkie talkie, and he stealthily left.
Inside, three young martial artists looked at each other, and then dashed after Feather.
"Wait Feather!" Ranma called out, "We couldn't have known! Come back here!"
Feather ignored him as she quickly threw her shoes on and ran out the door. "I said come
back here!" Ranma and Ryouga gave quick chase, promptly leaving Akane behind.
"Honestly," Akane grumbled to herself as she started walking back to the dojo,
"You'd think she would stick around, huh?" Akane noticed a figure fleeing the wall near
the dojo, trying to stay lost in the shadows. Akane blinked and she couldn't see it any
more. "Probably just Happosai up to his usual tricks again." She mumbled as she
reentered the dojo.
Feather ran. She ran from Ranma, Ryouga, and most importantly, she ran from that
blank in her memory. Her tear filled eyes clouded her vision, and occasionally, she'd
stumble, only to try and run longer. 'Further, faster, longer, tougher' her sensei's words
haunted her as she ran. She never noticed when her loose shoes came off, until she tried
to cross some gravel. She sat down in place and cried. She tried blocking out the rest of
the world, locked in her own misery at not knowing who she really was. Try as hard as
she might, the first thing she remembered clearly is working as a fake angel in a carnival
side-show. She originally told them about being like that for ten years in hopes that they
wouldn't ask any more questions about that. She was wrong.
Ranma and Ryouga heard a girl crying ahead of them, and they sped up. When they
turned a corner, they were able to see Feather sitting on the ground crying her eyes out.
Both of the young men stopped in their tracks, not sure about what to do. Ranma broke
out of brain freeze first and walked up to Feather.
"Hey, come on, stop crying." He tried to comfort her, "We don't care that you don't
remember anything, just come on back to the dojo OK?" Ranma looked intently at
Feather, and she turned on him rather suddenly.
"You have no idea what's going on do you?" She screamed, "I can't remember
anything past about a year ago! I don't even know who my parents are! I'm cursed like
this now. You have no idea what it's like to be cursed! Ryouga maybe, but you have no
way of knowing how much it hurts to be different, so different that people would pay
money just to see you for a minute or two. Or so alone! You at least still have you're
parents! I can't even remember them!" She punctuates each sentence by advancing on
Ranma angrily. Ranma backed away from her, then looked over at Ryouga.
"I guess there's only one way to make her feel a bit better about this, eh P-chan?"
Ranma said softly, with a note of resignation.
"Ranma, you don't mean...." Ryouga started to say, and stopped when Ranma
nodded. "I hope your right Ranma." Ryouga looked around for a second, and then
picked up a discarded cup. It still had some water in it from a previous rainfall. "Sorry
about the dirty water Ranma." Ryouga said simply as he poured the water over Ranma's
head. Feather's eyes just about bugged out of her head as she watched Ranma change
suddenly from a well muscled young man, to a much shorter, bouncy red-headed girl.
"Wha wha, how, how did you do that?" Feather's brain went into shock. Ranma-
chan grinned a little at that.
"You know all about Ryouga and you're asking how? I've been cursed, much as he
has, and it has made my life difficult. I know about what it's like to be used by others for
profit. There're a few people that have paid money just to see me for a moment or two.
I'm definitely different from everyone else, and it's been so long since I've been able to be
with my mom as her son, it tears me apart every time she comes over." Ranma-chan
walked forward and put her hands on the other girls shoulders. "I know only too well
what it's like to be cursed. As for the memory, you can talk to Akane about that, she
would understand a lot better than most people." Ryouga walked up to the other two,
and put in his piece.
"You see Feather, we can relate to what you're going through. Both of us have had
no choice about some things that have happened to us. Can you imagine waking up on a
dinner platter?" Feather looked agape at Ryouga who nodded. "More people than I can
count have tried to cook me, but I survive, and I learn from it. You need to be strong, and
I think we can help."
"What should I do?" Feather was still sniffling a bit, but allowed the others to start
guiding her back to the dojo.
"Well, I think Dr. Tofu might like to take a look at you," Ranma-chan said, "He's
dealt with memory problems before. He's great, as long as Kasumi ain't around."
Ranma-chan shuddered at the thought.
"What happens when Kasumi is around the doctor?" Feather inquired, curious about
Ranma's reaction. Ranma shruged a bit.
"The poor guy's so much in love with Kasumi that he goes nuts when she's around.
It's dangerous to be near him when he's like that." Ranma-chan said, and they continued
walking on to the dojo in silence. When they reached the dojo, they saw that Akane was
waiting for them at the gate.
"Sure took your time getting back," She commented acidly. Ryouga and Feather
looked sheepish, but Ranma-chan was defiant.
"So we took a little while, so what? It's not my fault that you're too slow to keep
up." Akane fumed, then she grinned maliciously.
"Is that right? Then I guess I won't warn you." Akane entered the house in a huff.
"Geez, what's her problem?" Ranma-chan muttered as they walked inside. Right as
Ranma-chan kicked off her shoes, a motherly, and yet frightening voice hailed her.
"Ranko, it's nice to see you again!" Ranma's mother, Nodoka, walked around the
corner.
"Auntie Saotome!" Ranma-chan tried desperately to keep her heart from stopping.
::So this is what Akane meant about warning me...:: "I'm really glad I could see you
again!" Ranma-chan meant it. Even if she couldn't reveal her true identity to her mother,
she still wanted to be as close to her as possible. "You missed Ranma again, he went with
his father on another training trip."
"Oh, Akane-chan already told me. I was hoping to catch them while Ranma's leg
was still healing. I saw what happened on the news, but I was visiting with my parents
and couldn't just leave. I was so proud of my son, when the reporters said he had taken a
bullet to keep Akane-chan from getting hurt." Ranma-chan's heart almost broke when
she heard that. Feather almost said something, but Ryouga clamped his hand over her
mouth. Feather struggled to move his hand, but he was way too strong for her. She even
tried biting him, but he showed no sign of pain.
"Ryouga-kun! I thought you would be training with my son. What are you doing
here?"
"I, um, I have to stay here and help get Feather back on her feet, yeah that's it."
Ryouga stammered out nervously. Nodoka just nodded, and looked intently at Feather.
"Aren't you the girl my son rescued a while back?" Nodoka leaned forward to look
a little closer at Feather. Ryouga moved his hand to Feather's shoulder. Feather spared
Ryouga a withering glance, but then smiled to Nodoka.
"Hi, my name is Feather, it's a pleasure to meet Ranma's mother! You must be so
proud to have a son like that!"
"I am, but sometimes it seems like his father has been trying to avoid me.." Nodoka
sighed. "So, have you found your parents yet?"
"It's been so long, I can't even remember them." Feather said softly. Nodoka looked
shocked, then tried to comfort the girl.
"That's awful! You poor thing..." Nodoka moved and embraced the girl, "What do
you plan on doing now?"
"Ryouga has started to train me in martial arts, and Ranma said that he wanted to
help before he left again. I was thinking about looking for a place to stay for a while,
maybe start going to school again." Nodoka nodded at her, "But I don't want to go
anywhere without Ryouga. The news may not have said anything about it, but Ranma
never would have made it without his help." Ryouga blushed and stammered something
unintelligible when Nodoka gave him a startled look.
"You helped my son, Ryouga? That was very kind of you." Ryouga just rubbed the
back of his head self consciously, and laughed a bit.
"He's been keeping an eye on me for the last month now, so I feel perfectly safe
around him." Feather giggled, and at that sound, both Ranma and Ryouga relaxed. They
knew she wasn't going to run off again that night.
They all went to sleep shortly after that. Feather bunked with Akane, while Ryouga
opted to stay in the same room as Mr. Tendo.
The next morning, Feather felt like she had been run over by a train. Her muscles,
unused to the amount of exercise she did the previous day, were all complaining. She did
her best not to let it show, but the others noticed quickly.
"Aren't we a bit sore this morning." Nabiki remarked as she passed Feather in the
hallway dressed in her school uniform. Feather just gave Nabiki the look of the long
suffering, and continued to shuffle towards the breakfast table. Once there, she
practically collapsed into her spot at the table.
"Oh my, Feather are you sore this morning?" Kasumi asked as she dished out a
portion of food for her. Feather sighed. ::So much for trying to hide it from these
people.::
"Yeah, I guess I overdid it yesterday." Feather began to eat, ignoring the morning
argument between Akane and Ranma. She was in too much personal pain to notice them.
"Maybe you should have Akane and Ranko drop you off at Dr. Tofu's and have him
take a look at you." Kasumi said cheerfully. Nodoka nodded from where she sat.
"That's a good idea Kasumi, I'd take her there myself, but I have to leave again."
"So soon? Can't you stay just a bit longer?" Ranko stopped arguing with Akane
long enough to look pleadingly at her mother. She ignored the panicked looks a certain
panda was giving her.
"I'm sorry Ranko, but I really have to be going. I'll be back again to try and catch
Ranma and Genma here." Ryouga looked up from his food.
"I'll go with you Feather, you don't look like you'd be able to keep up with their
morning scramble." Feather looked gratefully at Ryouga.
"Thanks Ryouga, It's always nice to have a friend along." Ryouga blushed and
fidgeted with his chopsticks, absently breaking them.
After breakfast, they scurried off to Dr. Tofu's, Ryouga ended up carrying Feather so
that she could keep up. They managed to arrive at Dr. Tofu's office without incident.
"Good morning Akane, Ranma," Dr. Tofu greeted them at the door. "How's your
leg this morning Ranma?"
"Good morning Dr. Tofu, my leg is as good as new, but I do need a bit of hot water,
and could you see a friend of ours?" Ranma-chan said.
"Of course Ranma, you better hurry on to school, you don't want to be late again this
morning." He advised as he handed them a kettle he kept handy for Ranma. Dr. Tofu
looked over at Feather and Ryouga. "Why hello there you two, what can I do for you this
morning?" He asked them pleasantly.
"I think she could use something for sore muscles doctor," Ryouga said, "She's not
in the same kind of shape Ranma and I are in and she's trying to train just as hard."
Ryouga shrugged.
"Come on in and I'll take a look at you." Dr. Tofu gestured for them to enter.
Once inside, Dr. Tofu examined Feather carefully, then applied a salve that he said
was a muscle relaxant. He then proceeded to give her a massage to help loosen her tense
muscles. When he was done with the massage, Feather decided to ask him about her
memories.
"Doctor, I need to ask you something."
"Go ahead," He said without looking away from the papers he was filling out.
"I seem to have lost all of my memories starting a year ago. I can clearly remember
back to a certain point, but after that, it's a huge blank. Do you think you can help?" Dr.
Tofu gestured for her to sit in a chair, and he looked over her scalp, as if he could see her
memories as objects. When he was done looking at her head, he gazed deeply into her
eyes, and asked her to follow his finger with her eyes. Feather's heart was pounding in
her chest, and she almost screamed just to break the awful silence that had crept into the
room, when he spoke.
"Someone did something to block your memories. They didn't leave any of the
usual tell tale signs, but there is definitely something blocking your memory.
Unfortunately, unless we can figure out exactly what was done, I am unable to reverse it.
All I can do is touch a shiatsu spot that's supposed to aid a failing memory." He gestured
for her to stand, and then traced his finger along her side so gently, she thought she was
going to break down laughing. Then he poked his finger into a spot close to the bottom
rib.
"There, that might be able to help. It won't be apparent right away, but things may
start coming back to you." Dr. Tofu said gently as he started leading her to the door.
"Thank you Doctor," Feather said as they reached the waiting room. Ryouga was
sitting there, absently cracking walnuts between his fingers to amuse an old woman who
was also there. When Ryouga noticed that they had come out, he stood and walked over
to Feather. They continued walking out to the sidewalk.
"You need to take it easy for today, you strained a bit past your limits yesterday.
You should stretch and do your kata, that should keep you from getting stiff again. Try
and avoid getting into any fights today ok?" Dr. Tofu said as they were starting to walk
away.
"Yes doctor." Feather said as they made their way down the street. They started
walking slowly, and then Feather looked around. "Umm Ryouga?"
"Yeah?"
"Where are we?" Feather asked looking around at the different stores and vendors
that seemed to surround them.
"What are you asking me for? How should I know?" Ryouga replied in a bit of a
huff.
"Great, just great. Lost again, and this time you don't have your pack with you."
Ryouga looked around for someone who might be able to tell them how to get back to the
dojo, when he saw a sign.
"Perfect, now all we need to do is wait till school gets out." Ryouga said with
confidence as he strode up to a restaurant that appeared to be closed.
"What makes you so sure of that Ryouga?" Feather asked as she came up to stand
next to him. "This place is locked up tight, what makes you think there's someone here
that'll help us out?"
"This is Ukyou's restaurant, and she'll be glad to help us when she gets out of
school." Ryouga replied, sitting down next to the door.
"But what if someone comes along and tries to bother us?" Feather asked worriedly.
Ryouga grinned viscously as he spoke.
"Then I get to vent a little bit." Feather looked a bit shocked. "What's wrong? I'm
just a little upset that were lost, that's all. It's not like I'm going to kill anyone."
Seemingly mollified, Feather sat down next to Ryouga. She leaned her head on Ryouga's
shoulder, and quickly fell asleep. Ryouga was vigilant, and did his best not to disturb
Feather no matter what happened. The day seemed to drag on for Ryouga, and he was
starting to feel extremely uncomfortable when he noticed something. The sky had gotten
dark and it was starting to look like rain. Almost in a panic he stood, picked up Feather,
and moved them under the awning at the front of Ucchans. He set Feather down next to a
mailbox, and he leaned against it.
"If it's not one thing, it's another." Ryouga grumbled, drumming his fingers along
the side of the box. "I wonder when Ukyou allowed this mailbox to be put here, right in
front of her door. Oh well, makes a good leaning post."
Inside the mailbox, Tsubasa Kuranai was doing his level best to avoid revealing
himself early. He was laying in wait for his dear, dear Ukyou, and nothing was going to
stop him this time. Not even some guy who seemed to be purposely doing everything he
could to annoy the heck out of him.
A few minutes later, the rain started to fall, and Ryouga was glad that the awning
was out. He continued to drum his fingers against the mailbox in irritation at the wait.
Suddenly losing his patience, Tsubasa popped out of the mailbox and confronted the jerk
who was annoying him.
"Now look here you..... uh oh." Tsubasa had started to wag a finger at he offender,
but then he realized he was facing off against Ryouga Hibiki, one of the strongest fighters
in Nerima. "Eh, umm.. Hi there Ryouga. What's up?" Tsubasa giggled a little, fully into
his cute girl act now. Ryouga glared at him, and Tsubasa tried his best to look even
cuter. Ryouga looked down and started to chuckle.
"Still after Ukyou, Kuranai?" Ryouga asked, nonchalantly tossing the remains of
the mailbox away.
"You know how it is, with unrequited love and all that. I take it you wanted me out
of my disguise so you could talk to me is that it?" Tsubasa hadn't even noticed Feather's
happily asleep form yet.
"I need someone to take me back to the Tendo dojo. I have a friend I'm taking care
of, and she really needs to get back there." Ryouga gestured at Feather, and when
Tsubasa started to get all starry eyed, Ryouga menaced him with his umbrella. "Don't
even think about it." He snarled at the cross dresser.
"Don't hurt me!" Tsubasa cringed a little, then spoke "Okay, I'll lead you back to the
Tendos, but if I miss seeing my dear Ukyou because of you, I'll find a way to make you
pay."
Ryouga didn't bother responding to that, he merely picked up Feather, set his
umbrella and waited for Tsubasa do lead him onwards. Tsubasa procured an umbrella
from somewhere and began to skip around in the rain, leading Ryouga back to the dojo.
Just as they left, a black cloaked man stepped out of an alley, and started to follow them.
Akane, Ukyou, and Ranma-chan were hurrying to the dojo, the rain, having changed
Ranma back into a girl, was already putting Ranma in a bad mood. It didn't help much
that Kuno had accosted him, claiming that he had ensorcelled his pigtailed goddess away
from him yet again.
"Why did if hafta rain today?" Ranma-chan complained.
"Don't worry about it too much Ran-chan," Ukyou said cheerfully, "After all, your
mother may still be there right now." Ranma-chan grumbled a bit, but inwardly agreed
with his friend.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't have to if it wasn't for that stupid promise pop made."
Ranma-chan fell silent after that, as they were approaching the dojo. Once they were
inside, Ranma-chan noticed an unusually large potted plant that wasn't there before. She
smirked to herself and waited for the inevitable. As Ukyou tried to pass the plant, it
abruptly sprouted arms that hugged her tightly, and Tsubasa's head popped out of the
plant as well.
"Oh my dear Ukyou! I would you hold you like this forever!" he sighed. Ukyou's
face went through several stages of surprise, fear, then anger.
"Tsubasa." She said with deceptive calm as she reached for her mega-spatula, "Let
go of me!!" Ukyou screamed as she slammed Tsubasa into the next town. Akane
whistled as she followed Tsubasa's flight.
"I don't think I've ever seen you hit him so far Ukyou," Akane commented. Ukyou
was still shaking in rage when they entered the living room with Ranma-chan and Akane.
They were a bit surprised to see that Ryouga was sitting on the floor, with Feather resting
her head on his lap. He held a single finger up to his lips, and then turned his attention
back to the girl in his lap. Ranma ducked into the kitchen for some hot water, and when
he came back out, Akane was kneeling next to Ryouga.
"Where's everyone else?" Akane asked quietly.
"Genma and Mr. Tendo went out somewhere, Kasumi went shopping, Mrs. Saotome
left about an hour ago. I haven't seen Nabiki yet." As he spoke, Feather stirred a little,
then slowly sat up. She stretched her arms and yawned, then opened her eyes.
"Oh, good morning you guys" She said a bit sleepily. Akane and Ukyou giggled a
little, while Ranma outright laughed. "What's so funny?" She asked.
"It's afternoon now silly" Akane said, a hint of amusement still in her voice. She
would have said something else, but there was a popping noise and a tranquilizer dart hit
her. She collapsed as the powerful drug took effect. Ryouga leapt to his feet as more
darts flew in. Feather was struck next, and she keeled over again. Ranma was dodging
the darts as he tried to figure out who was after them. Ryouga had pulled his umbrella
out to use as a shield. Ukyou tried to block the darts with her spatula, but one got past
her defenses, and she too collapsed. Seeing that they were getting nowhere fast, Ranma
faked getting hit with a dart, and fell in such a way that he could quickly get up and fight.
Ryouga continued to block them with his umbrella for a few seconds, until he realized
what Ranma was up to. A moment after Ryouga faked his fall, about ten men in black
cloaks entered the dojo.
"You three grab the girls," One of the men spoke, gesturing towards the fallen girls,
"I want you and you to tie the boys up, the boss don't want any boys. The rest of ya get
rid of the evidence." As the men started to move towards the fallen girls, Ranma and
Ryouga sprang up and attacked. Ranma opened up with an uppercut to the man closest to
him, while Ryouga threw one of them into the others. The dart guns were out again in a
flash, and Ranma was hit with five tranks at once. He shook his head blearily, and
proceeded to kick another one through a wall. Ryouga was hit with three, but he was in a
rage, and the drugs were not affecting him at all.
"These guys are monsters!" One of the men cried, as Ryouga grabbed the front of
his shirt and threw him out of the dojo, ignoring the numerous darts that were sticking in
him. Ranma was feeling them, but was determined to fight off these men. He felt his
heart sink, however, when another twenty of the cloaked men entered the dojo, and
concentrated on knocking out Ryouga. When Ryouga finally fell to the tranks, they
turned their attention on Ranma. During the fight, a few of the men were slowly
dragging Akane, Ukyou and Feather away. Ranma went into a rage, and attacked the
men closest to him with a ki charged kick, and then turned on another few with the
kachuu tenshinn amaguriken. He didn't even bother to call out his strikes, he just
pulverized anyone who got close to him. Unfortunately, the number of tranks in him
were starting to wear on him, and he couldn't dodge them as well. Completely blinded by
the tranks, Ranma grabbed the closest thing to him, one of the cloaked men. The cloth
tore as Ranma fell heavily to the ground, looking more like a human pin cushion than
anything else. His last conscious thought was of Akane, and firmly gripped in his hand
was a scrap of cloth, emblazoned with the sign of the Viper and the Blade.