A Feather in the Wind
Chapter 13

      It was a peaceful sunset over a scenic, forest covered mountainside. The tall pine trees bowed and whipped violently when the wind suddenly blew with hurricane force. Some few trees broke under the merciless pounding of air as a glowing disk spiraled in being a few feet above the ground. Blue energy swirled and crackled with almost deafening reports as the disk forcibly ejected four tangled forms. They left a deep trench in the soft dirt upon impact and just as suddenly as it came, the disk disappeared leaving no evidence that it was ever there other than four people lying in a trench.
      Slowly, one of the mud caked figures struggled to his feet and looked about. With a tired sigh, Ranma bent to try and wake the others. After a few minutes, Akane stirred awake.
      "Where are we, Ranma?" She asked as she rose to her feet and tried in vain to wipe the mud from her face.
      "I dunno. In the woods I guess."
      Akane glared at him, "That's obvious you idiot!
      "I don't know! The mountains I think!" Ranma snapped as he tried to wake Ryouga.
      Akane shot his back another dirty look before she tried to wake Feather.
      "Geez, look at his hand!" Ranma exclaimed as he turned the lost boy over. Akane looked over and gasped. Ryouga's left hand had several deep looking cuts and blood flowed freely from the lacerations.
      "I hope it's not too bad..."
      "Bad enough." Ranma growled and continued to shake Ryouga's shoulder.

      A short time later, the four of them were gathered around a small campfire. Feather was carefully bandaging the cuts on Ryouga's hand, using what little water they had sparingly to clean the wound.
      "We're in trouble," Ranma said as he tossed a small chunk of wood into the fire. "We don't know where we are, we ain't got too much food and even less water."
      "I have about two weeks of travel rations in my pack, and I know how to hunt," Ryouga grunted as Feather tied off the bandage.
      "Two weeks for one person," Akane reminded him, "that'll only last a few days between the four of us."
      "I'm sure Ranma is as good at hunting as Ryouga, so all we need to do is find a stream or something," Feather sighed. "Ryouga managed to get a lot of my clothes. Akane can fit into those and I'm sure Ranma can fit into Ryouga's spares."
      "What else do we have, other than this briefcase of papers?" Akane asked.
      Ranma rummaged through Ryouga's pack a little before he responded. "Ok, one fair sized tent, two canteens of water, a camp stove with four full tanks of propane, survival knife, fishing line and hook, some rope, a lantern, matches, one sleeping bag, two wool blankets and several changes of clothes for both Ryouga and Feather and a fair amount of dried foods and rice."
      "Not quite, Ranma." Ryouga shook his head; "There's two ponchos, a cloak, goggles, a collapsible spade, a bottle of oil for the lantern and toiletries in the outside pockets. There's also some miscellaneous stuff in there." He snapped his fingers. "That reminds me..." He got up and rummaged through one of the outside pockets of his pack for a moment before he turned to Feather.
      "You kinda forgot this back there," He said shyly as he held out the choker to Feather. She squealed with delight as she jumped to her feet and took the choker from his hands.
      "Oh, thank you Ryouga! You're a sweetheart, you know that?" She smiled as Ryouga blushed.
      "OK, enough of that, you two," Ranma said firmly, "We gotta find some water. I don't know about you, but being covered in mud ain't exactly comfortable."
      Feather pouted at him and plopped back down on the ground, "Spoilsport."
      "I don't think he's trying to be mean intentionally," Akane glared at Ranma for a moment. "But he does have a point. One thing we need desperately is water."
      "I know, I know..." Feather sulked for a minute before she leapt to her feet, "I'll go look for water then!"
      "How? It's dark out right now..." Akane tried to protest, but Feather had already snapped her wings out and was leaping into the air. "Impulsive, isn't she?" Akane commented as she watched Feather disappear over the treetops.
      "Yeah, but there may still be enough light out for her to see. Let's build up the fire so that it's easier for her to find us again." Ranma said as he tossed a few sticks into the fire.

      About an hour later, Feather returned with a happy smile.
      "Hey guys! I found a lake that's not too far off!" She enthused as the rest wearily found their feet.
      "How can you possibly have so much energy?" Akane grumbled.
      "I'm just happy! Come on! I'll show you where the lake's at!"
      "Just a sec," Ryouga said as he scooped dirt and mud over their fire, "We can go just as soon as I'm sure that fire is out. One forest fire is one too many for me."

      They trudged off into the woods in the direction Feather indicated. The trees seemed to loom out of the darkness at them and more than once Akane and Feather almost screamed with fright at the sound of some animal. The hours dragged on and finally, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, they spotted the lake.
      "Ok, next time you say it's a short ways off, I'm going to sleep first," Ranma grumbled as he collapsed on the soft turf. Akane hauled him back to his feet by one arm.
      "First things first, Ranma! You and Ryouga pitch the tent while Feather and I get cleaned up." She ordered as she shoved the tent into his gut. Ranma glared at her, but said nothing as the two girls practically sprinted for the lake.
      "See if you can find some dry wood and get a fire going... that water's gotta be cold. I'll get the tent pitched," Ryouga grunted as he took the tent from Ranma's hands.
      Ranma nodded and headed a little ways back into the woods. Ryouga pitched the tent and dug a fire pit a small distance away from the front of the tent. He looked around a little and found a few logs that he drug over to the fire pit for a makeshift bench. By the time Ranma had returned with a double armload of firewood, Ryouga had made a camp that seemed fairly permanent.
      "That was quick," Ranma smirked as he dropped the wood.
      Ryouga grinned at him. "Practice. Since I've been camping out the bulk of my life, it comes as second nature to me. Let's get that fire going before the girls come back."

      Akane and Feather looked at the shimmering lakeshore with undisguised longing. With a laugh, the two shed their clothes and jumped in.
      "Yow!" Akane half screamed before she began to shiver, "This water is cold!"
      "Yeah, let's hurry and get back to the camp." Feather said as she began to try and rinse the mud and dirt out of her hair.
      After hurried washing, the two girls began to clean their clothes. The sun's continued rising finally burned the last of the fog from the lake, and they could clearly see the far side. Feather looked across the lake and frowned.
      "Hey, Akane,"
      "What?"
      Feather pointed across the lake, "What do you see over there?"
      Akane shrugged, "Trees?"
      "Trees that still have their leaves! I thought all the leaves had already fallen from that old tree out back of the dojo!"
      Akane squinted again across the lake. "I think you're right. Let's worry about that later and just get back to camp, I'm freezing out here!"
     

      Ranma and Ryouga had a fairly large fire going by the time the girls returned. Feather had wrapped her wings around the two of them, as much for modesty as for warmth. Their wet clothes were slung over a stout branch that Akane was carrying. Ryouga held his nose and looked away.
      "Take one of the blankets with you," Akane said through chattering teeth, "That Lake is practically freezing. Don't forget to wash your clothes while you are at it!"
      "Yeah, yeah. Come on Ryouga, let's get this over with so we can get some rest."

      Ranma-chan glared at the steely gray clouds that had moved across the sun as she and Ryouga-chan struggled to get all of the mud out of their clothes.
      "Looks like we got a storm moving in."
      "Yeah. Let's hurry up, I'm cold enough as it is."
      "Can't ya just change into that weird lookin' wolf thingie? I bet that fur would keep ya warm."
      Ryouga-chan shrugged. "I suppose I could if I knew how. I did manage to go into my wolf form by concentrating while we were in that place."
      Ranma-chan grunted something and held up her shirt. "That's as clean as it'll get. Why don't ya try changing into a wolf and I'll carry the clothes back?"
      "You just don't want to share the blanket..." Ryouga-chan trailed off as she stared across the lake.
      "What is it?"
      Ryouga-chan pointed, "That storm's coming in awfully fast."
      Ranma-chan swore as she wrapped the blanket around herself and gathered up their wet clothes. "Try changin' into a wolf or somethin'. Lesse if it wasn't just a fluke and then let's get outta here."
      Ryouga-chan nodded and then concentrated on how it felt to change into her wolf form. After nearly a minute of concentrating, fur began to sprout all over her body. The shifting of her bones was visible under her skin for a few moments before the fur suddenly thickened and the changes to the rest of her body became more apparent.
      "That was weird," Ranma-chan shuddered once the transformation was complete. "You changed in slow motion."
      Ryouga-okami growled and limped towards the woods.
      "Hey! The camp's this way!"

      When the oddly matched pair made it back to the campsite, Akane and Feather were struggling to string up a line for their clothes and stretch one of the ponchos over it to protect the damp clothes from the impending storm.
      "Ranma! Perfect timing, take this line to that tree over there, will you?" Feather pointed and handed her the line in one motion before dashing over to where Akane was mangling a corner of the poncho.
      "Whose idea was this?" Ranma-chan asked as she quickly tied the line off onto the tree and stepped back to look at the haphazard setup.
      "Akane's. She wanted our clothes to actually dry sometime this week."
      Ranma-chan shook her head. "Gimme a sec to get dressed and I'll help you guys."

      "This is hopeless!" Akane shouted after the poncho fell to the ground again.
      Ranma-chan shook her head. "Look Akane, why don't you and Feather warm up by the fire and let me handle it?"
      "But I want to help!" Akane protested right before sneezing violently a few times.
      "That does it, Akane! You and Feather are going to go sit by the fire right now! I ain't gonna let you get sick on us out here." Ranma-chan half shouted.
      "But..."
      "No buts Akane!"
      "Come on Akane, let's get you warmed up." Feather grabbed her arm and firmly steered her over to the fire. Ranma-chan tossed a blanket over their shoulders and went to work on fixing their improvised clothesline. The wind picked up a little and snow began to fall softly about them in small, almost sleet like flakes.
      "Ain't that just perfect," Ranma-chan muttered to herself.
      Feather shivered and huddled as close to the fire as she dared without pulling the blanket away from Akane. Ranma-chan squinted up at the gently falling snow and muttered a soft curse when it changed suddenly to freezing rain. Ranma-chan glared at Ryouga-okami for a moment.
      "You know, it must be nice to suddenly get a weather-proof coat whenever it rains..." Ranma-chan said as she tied off the last line for the small cover over their still damp, but clean, clothes. Ryouga-okami growled softly before pushing the girls into the tent with her head.
      "Ok, ok Ryouga! I'm going already!" Feather smiled a bit as she and Akane entered the tent. Ranma-chan and Ryouga-okami followed them in and closed the tent flap.
      "We can't stay here forever, you know." Akane grumbled as they listened to the steady pounding of the sleet on the canvas tent.
      "True enough, but we won't get far if we get sick from walking around in the rain." Feather countered as she began to braid her hair.
      Akane watched her braid for a few minutes. "How long does it take?"
      "What?"
      "Your hair. How long does it take to put it into a braid?"
      "About an hour, maybe almost two I guess," She shrugged.
      "Wow. And I thought my hair was a pain to deal with when it got past my shoulders."
      Feather shrugged as Akane popped the latches on the briefcase she had been carrying around.
      "What's in there?" Feather asked curiously.
      "This," she handed a fairly thick file to Feather with a conspirital wink. "That has all the data they've collected on you. A girl should try and keep her measurements a secret after all."
      Feather blushed as she took the file and started to leaf through it. "Hey!" She gave Akane an accusatory look," This has nothing to do with me!"
      "What?"
      "It looks like plans for that room we were in when we got shot out here," Feather hummed as she looked through it. Akane blinked before she rummaged through the briefcase some more.
      "Oh, here's your file. Let's keep them in here, it seems to be waterproof," Akane took the files and closed the briefcase.
      Ranma-chan cleared her throat to get their attention. "I think what we need to do is get ourselves rested up, and then worry about how we're gonna get home."
      "But we don't know where we are!"
      "If we run around in the rain or at night, we still won't know! Look, I know your tired and all, so you and Feather can share the sleeping bag, I'll use one of the blankets. What about you, Ryouga? Ryouga?" Ranma-chan looked over at the large, gray wolf. Ryouga-okami appeared to be fast asleep already, curled into a tight little ball with her tail lightly covering her nose.
      "I guess that answers that."
      "Oh yeah, when we were at the lake, I noticed something." Feather spoke up.
      "What is it?" Ranma-chan asked wearily as she began to wrap herself into the blanket. Feather told her about the trees on the other side of the lake.
      "Huh, that's weird. Who knows where we are now..." Ranma-chan grumbled. "Let's just get some sleep and worry about it tomorrow."
      When they woke up again late that afternoon, the sleet had changed to large flakes of snow. Ranma-chan poked through Ryouga's pack and pulled out a few strips of dried meat that were carefully wrapped in wax paper.
      "Ok, once we get the fire going again we can make some soup outta these."
      Akane looked appraisingly at the small strips of meat. "That's not going to make much of a meal. Maybe I could find a way to liven it up..." She glared at the looks of horror and winced a little at the sudden whine of pain from Ryouga-okami. "What?!?!" She demanded.
      "Is that safe?" Ranma-chan asked while protectively holding on to the dried meat.
      "Are you sure Akane? Wouldn't it be better to try and stretch what little food what have rather than trying to have lively meals all the time?" Feather tried to ask diplomatically.
      "Are you trying to tell me that I still can't cook?!?" Akane bristled at the perceived insult.
      "Not at all, Akane." Feather soothed, "It's just that, well, you are still learning, and learning involves the occasional mistake right?" Feather waited for Akane to nod in agreement before continuing, "Well, right now we don't have enough food to afford any mistakes."
      Akane looked angry for several minutes before visibly deflating. "Oh all right, you do have a point. I just want to do something, I'm not useless."
      "I'm sure you can get us some more firewood. We're also gonna need water from the lake and other stuff as we go along," Ranma-chan waved it off, "Ya ain't gonna have time to be useless, not with everything that needs to be done around a camp." Ranma- chan looked over at Ryouga-okami.
      "Hey, you think you could try and change into your girl form? It's gonna be a while till we got hot water and I could use a hand."
      Ryouga-okami growled sullenly and looked up. Just as Akane and Feather thought that nothing was going to happen, Ryouga-okami's form suddenly started to shift. A few seconds later, Ryouga-chan was sitting in from of them and snatching at a blanket to cover herself.
      "You know, that's hard to do." She said quietly as she drew the blanket about her shoulders. "Really? That looked weird, kinda like one of those time lapse photos." Akane commented.
      Ryouga-chan shuddered. "I could feel my bones shift when I did that. It wasn't painful, just weird."
      Akane and Feather left the tent in search of dry firewood while Ryouga-chan got dressed. Ranma- chan smirked in amusement when he saw that Ryouga- chan was deliberately keeping her eyes closed and was muttering something under her breath the whole time.

      A short time later found them gathered around their fire eating fairly bland soup and discussing what they would do next.
      "We need to figure out where we are so we can get home," Akane grumbled.
      "How are we going to do that?" Ranma-chan asked. "I ain't seeing anybody else around, so we can't ask around."
      "I did see some power lines south of here, they should lead to a village or something. We should head there first."
      "First thing in the morning, then." Ryouga- chan hissed a little as she held her bowl in her injured hand. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm still worn out from yesterday."
      "No argument there," Ranma-chan said as she spooned out another bowl, "You know, we could train as we go." She looked around and saw the blank looks on the girls' faces. "Come on, you know, train in the Art as we travel. Let's take advantage of the fact that we're away from school."
      "Aren't we low enough on food without straining ourselves?" Akane asked.
      Ryouga-chan shook her head. "It shouldn't take us more than a day or two to reach a village. Even if they don't have a phone there, we can either buy or work for the supplies we need."
      "Sounds like you've done that before."
      "Yeah, well," Ryouga-chan scratched the back of her head, "I have gone sightseeing a lot."
      "Don't ya mean gotten lost a lot?" Ranma-chan asked.
      "Shut up, Ranma! It's not my fault all those maps were wrong!" Ryouga-chan growled.
      "The maps were wrong?" Ranma-chan asked innocently, "Then why exactly were you trying to use a map of Kyoto in the middle of downtown Tokyo?"
      "Oh, leave him alone, Ranma!" Akane snapped. "You know you shouldn't tease Ryouga like that."
      "I like the idea of training as we go along! I learned so much from Ryouga when we first trained together." Feather said happily between sips of her soup. "We didn't have much more food than we have right now as well."
      "We'll see... It's a bit harder to live off of the land at this time of year. We really need as many supplies as we can carry from that village, even if..."
      "Even if you have to follow your father's example and steal, beg or promise your first born off in marriage to get all the food your greedy gut can hold?" Ryouga-chan said just a little snidely.
      "Look you..." Ranma-chan gave a laughing Ryouga-chan a dark look, "I was gonna say even if we gotta work as waitresses for a while."
      "Here, Ryouga, let me take another look at that hand of yours." Feather beckoned her over. She carefully unwrapped the cloth and peered at the cuts underneath. "Hmm... These are looking better. You did say you can still use all your fingers without a problem, right?"
      Ryouga-chan nodded.
      "We'll just have to keep your hand clean then. Try not to change into a wolf too often, 'kay?"
      "Uhm... Sure..." Ryouga-chan started to twiddle her fingers, incidentally mangling a spoon.
      "Hey! Watch it ya jerk!" Ranma-chan yelped as she snatched the spoon and tried to straighten it out, "We ain't got much in the way of utensils."
      Ryouga-chan looked up in embarrassment, only to look startled a moment later when her wolf ears and tail popped out. Akane and Feather merely stared for a moment while Ranma-chan collapsed laughing.
      "The, hee hee, look on your face!" She howled with laughter. Slowly, the rest of them joined in laughing, including Ryouga-chan.

      "I wonder why that happened." Akane asked Feather much later as they were preparing to go back to sleep.
      "Why what happened?" Feather yawned.
      "Ryouga's ears. Why'd they change like that all of a sudden?"
      "Search me." Feather shrugged, "A Jusenkyo curse is weird enough by itself, but a curse within a curse? Who knows how it works."
      "Yeah. I guess your right there," Akane smiled, "Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

      Ryouga woke them up before dawn the next morning, much to their complaint.
      "Come on, Ryouga, lemme get some more sleep." Feather grumbled as Ryouga forced her and Akane to sit up.
      "Sorry, but we want to try and make it to a village today," Ryouga said firmly, "So we need to get an early start."
      "We're moving, we're moving." Akane muttered as Ryouga turned his attention to Ranma. Any semblance of courtesy he might have been showing went straight out the window as Ryouga simply grabbed Ranma's feet and dragged him out of the tent and into the snow.
      "YOW!! Geez, Ryouga, what'd you go and do that for?" Ranma yelled as he hurriedly brushed the snow off of himself before it had a chance to melt and effect the change.
      Ryouga shrugged and gave him a toothy grin. "Fastest way I could think of to get your lazy behind out of bed."
      Ranma grumbled a little before Akane and Feather emerged from the tent, each of them wearing several layers of clothes. Ranma ducked into the tent to get changed while the rest of them got to work on building the fire.
      "It's kinda cold out here this morning, isn't it?" Feather said as she poked at the fire with a stick.
      "Sure is," Akane agreed, "I just wish Ryouga had grabbed more of your warm clothes."
      "Sorry, I was in a bit of a hurry." Ryouga apologized.
      Ranma emerged from the tent wearing some of Ryouga's clothes, although he had purposely avoided tying the cords around his calves.
      "Ok, what's for breakfast?" he asked.
      "Dry rations, Ranma. We wanna get going as soon as we can." Ryouga replied as he divvied out the food.
      "Well, after we eat, we'll break camp and set out towards those power lines." Ranma spoke between bites, "Feather, be ready to fly and scout a bit. We'll want to know which way to go."
      Feather blushed a little, "Uhm, well..."
      "What's wrong?"
      "I can't find my halter."
      "So?"
      "So, what will I wear while I'm flying?"
      Ranma gave her a blank stare while Ryouga struggled to stay conscious.
      "Uhm... Your bra I guess, unless we can get that jumpsuit dried out." Ranma said as he rubbed the back of his head.
      "Let's see if it's still wet." Akane said as she walked over to where they had their clothes hanging up. She felt the material for a moment before pulling it off of the line. "It feels fairly dry, what do you think, Feather?"
      Feather felt the material and nodded. "Feels dry to me. That means the other clothes should be dry as well."
      "That and you won't be flying around in just your bra." Ranma cracked. This time, Ryouga did pass out while Feather stuck her tongue out at Ranma.

      As they began to break camp, Feather ducked into the tent to put the jumpsuit on underneath her other clothes. They had finished breaking camp shortly after sunrise and they headed off to the south. They reached the power lines fairly quickly, and continued in a southeasterly direction. As they walked, Ranma and Ryouga would drill the girls on new moves and insisted on jumping from tree to tree as much as possible. On occasion, Feather would fly above the tree line to see if there was a village in sight. After one such flight, Feather landed with a huge grin.
      "Good news! We are headed straight for a small village!"
      "That's good to know," Akane smiled, "At least we picked the right direction."
      Ranma nudged Ryouga in the ribs, "I told ya this was the way to go."
      "Oh shut up!" Ryouga growled.

      When it was finally time to stop for lunch, Akane and Feather collapsed underneath a tree and leaned against the rough bark.
      "I'm beat." Akane groaned.
      "You and me both."
      "You guys can't be tired yet!" Ranma teased, "We've barely been training for half of the day."
      "Leave them alone, Ranma, and go get some firewood. It'd be a good idea to warm up a bit before we press on." Ryouga growled as he set down his pack.
      "Why do I hafta?"
      "Because I'm getting the food out, and the girls are too tired."
      "In other words, you don't want to get lost, eh wolf-boy?"
      "Just go!"
      Ranma chuckled as he walked a bit further back into the woods. Ryouga snarled at his back and turned his attention back to the rapidly dwindling supplies in his pack.
      "Just how much food do we have left, Ryouga?" Akane asked.
      "If it was just me, I'd say I had enough for a little more than a week. At the rate the four of us are eating, it may last another two days," he replied.
      "I hope we get to a village before then. I hate being hungry," Feather said softly as she leaned a bit more onto Akane's shoulder and began to softly snore.
      Akane gave her a brief look and smiled gently. "I guess she's more worn out than we thought. The last few days have been really rough for you two, hasn't it?"
      Ryouga nodded. "Yeah. I think it got to Feather more than me, since they had me drugged for half the time. She won't talk about what happened, but I get the feeling that they triggered another unpleasant memory."
      "What makes you think that?"
      "Right after they took her from the cell we were sharing, a guard came running back for the scientists yelling something about Feather having a fit," Ryouga stared for a second as Ranma-chan returned with a small amount of firewood. "What happened to you?"
      Ranma-chan shrugged, "Some slush fell off a tree and got me. Don't bother waiting on water to heat up for me, I'll be fine."
      "Ok. Anyway, I escaped from my cell right after that and ended up wandering around the guts of that building and crawling through the vents until you guys showed up. Things may have happened a little differently if you had ended up talking in that lobby for another minute or two."
      "Oh? How come?" Ranma-chan asked as she helped get the fire started.
      "The vent gave way out from under me," Ryouga shrugged, "I landed in the fountain and the people in the lobby seemed to think I was part of the maintenance crew."
      "Heh, saved by your curse, huh?" Ranma chortled, "It's happened to me a time or two."
      Ryouga merely grunted before gently waking up Feather and passed out the cold food.
      "We're better off taking just a short break," Ryouga said, "I think we could all agree that we want to be in that village tonight or early tomorrow." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

      They didn't linger too long after eating before putting out the fire and walking on. After another hour of walking, they found a dirt road that appeared to lead to the village.
      "This is a stroke of luck!" Feather laughed after she got back from flying along the road, "If we run, we could be in that village before it gets dark!"
      "Sounds good to me." Ranma-chan grinned, "The only question if whether or not you two have enough energy left."
      "I'll be fine, Ranma." Akane said.
      "I could just fly most of the way, and then run in with the rest of you once we're close." Feather said. Ranma-chan frowned when she heard the exhaustion creeping into her voice.
      "Stay on the ground. I think all this low flying's been wearing you out more than you think."
      "But..."
      "Don't argue with him, Feather. You look exhausted, I'll carry you for as long as necessary." Ryouga said firmly.
      Feather shook her head. "I'm not _that_ tired. Let's get going," she said with a fair amount of annoyance in her voice.
      "Fine, just don't push yourself too hard." Ranma-chan said before she started running.

      They ran down the road at a good pace for almost two hours before Feather began to fall behind. Ranma-chan called a halt and circled back to where Feather was gasping for breath.
      "I told you not to push yourself too hard." She said gently as she offered her shoulder for support.
      "I'll... be... ok. Just give... me a... second to... catch... my breath." She gasped out.
      "You ok, Feather?" Akane asked when they had regrouped.
      "I'll be ok... I'm just winded."
      Ryouga grunted as he adjusted his pack. "How much longer do you think you can run at this pace, Akane?"
      "A while, I think," she looked thoughtful, "Several more hours at least."
      "Ok, when you get tired let us know, Akane," Ryouga said as he picked Feather up, "We'll keep running until then."

      Twilight was beginning to settle in when they reached the outskirts of the village. Ryouga put Feather back on her feet and looked around.
      "Looks like a small farming or logging town to me," Ranma-chan said as she led the way.
      "If you say so, Ranma," Akane said as she looked around the quaint village.
      "Let's look around and see if there's someplace that's willing to put us up for the night." Feather said and then looked up at Ryouga, who was looking around with a frown on his face. "What's wrong, Ryouga?"
      "This place looks familiar."
      "You say that about everywhere, Ryouga." Ranma-chan chided.
      "Shut up, Ranma! I'm serious! This place looks really familiar." Ryouga half yelled.
      "Well now, y'all came back again!" a villager greeted Ryouga. He peered closely at them all before he chuckled. "Looks like you brought all your friends this time!"
      "Ah, well... I guess you could say that..." Ryouga said nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.
      "Excuse me," Akane said. "But is there any kind of work we could do around here? We've been on the road a long time, and we're low on food and money."
      "Y'all came at the right time!" He laughed. "We's need a goodly amount of strong backs to be helpin with the last of the harvestin' and loading up the trucks."
      "Sounds good..." Ranma-chan smirked until the villager shook his head. "What?"
      "The boss won't hear of pretty young things like yerselves to be workin' in the fields! I'm sure we's can find somethin' else fer ya to do."
      Ranma-chan glared at him for a moment before she chuckled. "I'll bet we're all stronger than you think."
      "We're martial artists," Akane announced proudly.
      "I reckon you are. Still, ya gotta consider how the other hands would feel if a tiny thing like you were to be doin' more work than 'em. They'd get mighty riled up, and I'm sure you don't wanna fight all of 'em just fer that."
      Akane and Feather sighed while Ranma-chan dashed out of town.
      "Where's she goin'?"
      "Maybe she went to see how far behind her brother is," Feather said evasively.
      "Two strong backs would be a mighty big help, seein' as how we just lost a few hands that volunteered to help fight that forest fire last week over near Osaka. That was a bad one."
      "Last week?" Ryouga asked intently.
      "Yeah, tho' it be a bit closer to two or three days ago. They say that it almost took out the Unryuu farm. Our boys came back mighty burnt, but they'll be ok next year. They was sayin' that Old Man Unryuu was in a fit until he learned that his granddaughter Akari was just fine."
      "Is there an inn or something here?" Feather asked as Ranma came trotting back up to them, apparently having found some hot water. "We all really need a bath."
      "Well, it ain't fancy or nothin', but you can't miss it. Biggest building in this here village, other than the temple up the ways," He pointed to a two-story building down the road. "You just go in there and tell 'em that you two young men wanna help in the fields, and they'll hook you up with a room or two and dinner. After that, you'll have to pay, but you'll be getting paid daily after workin' the fields," He stopped and gave Ryouga a lopsided grin. "Unless, a course, another boar comes chargin' out of them there woods and you stop it like ya did the last one."
      Ryouga rubbed the back of his head nervously as Ranma thanked the villager and they made their way towards the inn.
      "Rampaging boar?" Feather asked as they walked slowly towards the inn.
      "It's a long story..." Ryouga sighed as yet another villager shouted a greeting from the rooftop he was repairing.
      "Looks like your pretty popular around here," Akane said.
      Ryouga chuckled nervously as he opened the door to the inn. Inside, there was a number of tables being attended to by a lone, rather harried looking waitress. When she approached their small group, Ranma gave her his most charming smile.
      "Hi, we were told to come here and let you know that we want to help in the fields," Ranma said.
      "Y'all got good timing then," The waitress smiled as she led them to a table. "Usually we don't need no outside help, but what with that fire burning a few of our boys as they helped to fight it... Nevermind. I'll bring y'all the same dinner all the hired hands get on the first night and hook you up with a room. I'll call the farmers, they'll be here in the mornin' to pick you boys up."
      "Sounds good to us," Ryouga said.
      "Waitress!" A man at one of the other tables called. The waitress waved at him to quiet down before she turned back to them.
      "I'll be back with your food in a moment," She said before she hurried off.
      "Seems busy in here," Feather commented.
      "One waitress," Akane said. "She's probably really overworked in here."

      After dinner, they led to an upstairs room. The furniture seemed antique, and there were two fairly large western style beds laying out. They sat in a tight circle on the floor and spoke in low tones.
      "This is really weird." Ryouga said, "That forest fire happened close to three weeks ago, and everyone is talking about it like it happened only a few days ago."
      "Yeah. When we were at that lake, I noticed that the trees on the far side of the lake still had a lot of their leaves. We didn't see that right away because we were in a pine forest." Feather added.
      "So what do we do about it?" Akane asked, "We know where we are now, and it shouldn't take us more than three days to get back home." She leaned back a little with a worried look on her face. "I don't know about you, but I'm not thrilled with the idea of seeing myself right now."
      "Then we stay here in the mountains and train," Ranma said, "We have about two weeks or so before we disappeared, and since it's probably not a good idea to go home, so we might as well stay around here and train."
      "And what will Feather and I do while you two are in the fields?" Akane asked.
      "Well..." Ranma drawled with an evil looking smirk.

      "How did we get stuck doing this?" Feather asked as she attempted for the twentieth time to pull the very short skirt of the waitress uniform lower the next morning.
      "How should I know?" Akane grumbled as she passed by carrying a tray of drinks, "But at least these people are cheerful and tip well."
      "In these getups, how can they not be cheerful?!?" Feather gestured at what she was wearing. The dress had wide blue stripes on it and was very low cut around the neckline, showing off a fair bit of cleavage. The skirt was ruffled and very short. A light blue apron covered the front of the dress and it was tied in the back in a huge bow. Feather's hair was tied into two wavy ponytails that reached to her ankles. The almost petulant look she had almost made Akane drop the tray from laughing too hard.
      "Just get to table eight, they're waiting to order." Akane urged before she hurried to her table with a cheerful smile on the outside, but silently fuming on the inside. When Ranma had made the suggestion the night before, it had seemed reasonable. After all, the more money they earned during their stay, meant that if they could afford train tickets once they leave.

      Akane's smile was rather fixed in place by the time the lunch crowd came in from the fields. She had heard from the head waitress that a lot of these men were not the usual help they had in the fields. Invariably, they were dirty, crude and just this side of rude. Akane found herself looking for Ranma and Ryouga to come in with them, but remembered that they had used what little money they had on hand to buy a bag lunch.
      "Waitress!" One of the men yelled as he plopped down into a chair in Akane's section. Akane shoved her thoughts to one side as she hurried to his table and pulled out her pad and pencil.
      "What can I get for ya, hon?" She dutifully repeated the phrase she was told to use when taking orders.
      "I could use a little cheesecake," the man leered up at her.
      "Cheesecake?" Akane asked in confusion. "That's not on the menu."
      "Sure it is. It's right here," the man continued to leer as he reached up under Akane's dress to pat her on the rear. Akane's smile turned into a look of pure rage.
      "Pervert!" Akane screamed as she grabbed the offending hand and tossed the man towards the door. Feather opened the door and smiled at the startled man.
      "Please, come again soon!" She waved at him as he passed before firmly closing the door. The other people eating applauded loudly as Akane and Feather returned to serving them. For some strange reason, Akane felt a lot better after that.

      That evening, they gathered in one of the outlying fields. Akane and Feather glared as Ranma and Ryouga approached.
      "What was the big idea of having us get into those embarrassing uniforms and work as waitresses?" Akane demanded.
      Ranma and Ryouga looked at each other for a moment before replying.
      "Well, you two are the girls here..." Ranma started.
      "There's two more just a splash away..." Akane said acidly.
      "Now hold on a second!" Ranma snapped, "Fer one thing, I had enough of waitressing for the old ghoul. Fer another, Ryouga and I are makin' a heck of a lot more doin' heavy liftin' and stuff!" Ranma stomped angrily forward as she made each point. Akane stood her ground; chin lifted defiantly, but Feather slowly edged her way behind Akane.
      "Even if there was nothing to be done in the fields, there's no way I could have safely done that. What would have happened if I had spilled hot coffee on myself?" Ryouga sighed. "Also, I never would have been able to find the tables."
      Akane looked startled at his admission. ::Wow, admitting that must have been a real hit at his pride! I guess I better lay off him for now...:: She thought. "Ok, Ryouga, you're off the hook. That still doesn't excuse Ranma," She finished with a glare at Ranma.
      "I thought I already explained why! Let's just forget about it for now and get to training while there's still some light left!" Ranma waved his arms in the air as he shouted.
      Ryouga shook his head and sighed. "I think I know what you're getting at, Akane, but Ranma's right, we are running out of light. Feather's not ready for blind fighting yet." He turned to Feather and smiled a little, "I want you to work with Ranma on your speed until we get back to the dojo. Akane, since you already know a good deal, I will be coaching you," he gestured with his still bandaged hand, "Until this heals up, that's going to be about the limit I can do."
      "Does it still hurt?" Feather asked quietly.
      Ryouga shrugged. "A little. It should be healed up in a day or two. Let's get started."

      It was well after dark before they made it back to the inn. Akane was practically glowing with pride; she had managed to learn every single one of the new moves that Ryouga had demonstrated. Feather trudged along behind her, more tired than anything else. Ranma had put her through almost every speed drill he could think of that evening. It seemed to her that the session was never going to end. The non-stop speed training left no muscle untouched, and apparently no tree in the area undisturbed by their rapid maneuvers.
      "I feel like I'm dead." Feather said as she collapsed across the bed. Akane snickered at her.
      "Oh, come on. It can't be that bad," she shook her head a bit. "Just wait until the boys are done with their bath and you can get a nice long soak."
      "Why did they take the bath first anyway?"
      "Something about not wanting to rush us or something," Akane shrugged.
      "Whatever. Didn't Ranma say something about an early morning workout as well?"
      "I think so..." Akane frowned a little, "He may be pushing you too hard though."
      "I don't mind," Feather smiled and sat up. "Ever since I've started training in the Art, I've had so much more energy. It's a great feeling."
      "We should stretch some more until the boys get done. We don't want you to cramp up after all."

      The next two weeks seemed to pass in a blur. Early in the morning they would jog out to a more remote location and train for several hours before sprinting back for a quick bath. They would then spend the day working their various jobs before training again in the evening. At the end of the second week, they pooled their money and purchased the supplies they needed for the trip back.
      "OK, let's go home!" Ranma said cheerfully as he led the way out of the small village.

      Ranma and Ryouga continued to train the girls after they had left the village and nearing the end of their second day on the road, Ranma and Feather faced off for a sparring match.
      "Ok Feather, do your best! I ain't going to go easy on ya, but I ain't gonna overwhelm you either!" Ranma smirked as he took up his stance.
      "You can do it!" Akane cheered from her seat at the edge of the clearing.
      "Remember your training!" Ryouga admonished from where he stood before he lowered his arm in a chopping motion, "Fight!"
      Feather leapt at Ranma with a kick that he blocked easily. They began to trade blows in earnest then, Feather going all out while it was obvious to Ryouga that Ranma was holding back considerably.
      "Wow, she didn't move that quick when we started out almost a month ago." Akane breathed.
      Ryouga nodded. "Ranma's been pretty focused on improving her speed. He hasn't tried training her in the Amaguriken yet, but she is getting faster."
      As they watched, another figure appeared out of the woods on the opposite side of the clearing. The young man dropped his pack with a disgusted snort and sat on it to watch. Akane glanced his way and saw that he was of strictly average height and build. A steely gray seemed to be his favorite color, since he was dressed entirely in that color. His jacket had a patch with a geometric shape only vaguely resembling a yin yang on the left shoulder.
      "Hey Ryouga, check out that guy over there," Akane pointed to the young man. Ryouga gave him a glance before he turned his attention back to the sparring match in front of him.
      Ranma smirked at Feather, as it became more and more obvious that she was getting frustrated. He half considered something spectacular to end the match, but then decided that it would be better if he just swept her feet out from under her. He suited thought to action when Feather tried an ill-timed ax kick. She tumbled to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs, but was unable to get up thanks to Ranma sitting on her back.
      The sound of half hearted clapping reached them, and they looked over at the young man at the edge of the clearing.
      "Very nice..." His voice practically dripped with sarcasm, "That was probably the most pathetic display of martial arts I've ever seen. Maybe you should give up with the little fighting act pal, you would make less of a fool of yourself." With those words, he hefted his pack and turned to leave. Ranma got off of Feather's back and helped her up.
      "Geez, what a jer..." his words trailed off when he saw the devastated look on her face, and the tears flowing down her cheeks while she sobbed silently. Anger rushed to the fore and his battle aura sprang up around him.
      "Hey, you! Why don't you come back here and say that to my face, ya jerk!" Ranma shouted as he walked in front of Feather.
      "Ranma, you don't have to do this..." Feather tried to reason with him.
      "Like hell I don't!" He snarled back. "Why don't you bring your attitude with ya! I'm gonna wipe that smirk offa your face!" he yelled at the stranger.
      "Why should I bother? You suck pal, plain and simple. That light show ain't impressive at all," he stifled a yawn.
      "I'm Ranma Saotome of the Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and I challenge you!"
      "Very well, I'll show you what a perfect martial artist can do," he lazily dropped his pack and approached Ranma with a strut, "You'll rue the day you crossed paths with Tsin."
      "Ain't no such thing as a perfect martial artist!" Ranma growled as he took up his stance and waited. Tsin smirked again and attacked with a few lazy looking kicks that Ranma easily dodged before he got in so close; their noses were almost touching.
      "If this is what you call perfect," Ranma said as he sent Tsin sprawling with an elbow to his cheek, "Then I'm beyond perfect."
      Tsin got to his feet and wiped a bit of blood from his lip in disgust. "I underestimated you, that won't happen again."
      "Bring it on!"
      Tsin smirked again and attacked his punches and kicks showing no sign of laziness or condescension now. Ranma dodged them just as easily and tapped him on the cheek a few times.
      "Too slow man, too slow! Boy, even Akane is faster than you!" Ranma taunted.
      "Shut up and pay attention, Ranma!" Akane yelled from the sidelines.
      Tsin began to scowl and with a sudden burst of speed that caught Ranma by surprise, he landed a few kicks on his chest. He tried to press his advantage by jumping at Ranma only to be met mid-air by the pigtailed martial artist.
      "Bad move!" Ranma yelled before he kicked a startled Tsin in the face and then twisted around fully to do a mid air roundhouse to his temple. When they came down, Ranma landed lightly on his feet his hands in his pockets while Tsin performed a perfect face-plant.
      "Had enough, pal?" Ranma asked as he looked casually over his shoulder at the other boy.
      "I haven't even begun to fight!"
      "I noticed."
      Tsin's gray battle aura finally sprung into life around him.
      "I'm not impressed with the little light show, pal," Ranma taunted. Tsin merely smirked and rushed forward. Ranma dropped back into his stance as he closed in. With a piercing cry, Tsin's aura flared into a blinding flash, forcing Ranma to cover his eyes. He felt a kick connect on his un-guarded stomach, doubling him over. A split second later, Tsin kneed him in the chest and brought both his fists down on his back in a crushing blow. Ranma's breath whooshed out of him and he collapsed, only to roll away from a follow up ax kick.
      "The Blinder and Pile Driver Punch combination," Tsin smirked, "how'd you like that, amateur?"
      "I'll show you amateur!" Ranma snarled as he rushed towards him again and casually blocked the kick sent his way.
      "Kachuu Tensin Amaguriken!" Ranma yelled as he unleashed a furious assault of punches. Tsin tried desperately to block or dodge, but the punches seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. He was thrown backward from the force of the blows and landed flat on his back. Tsin struggled to his feet and glared at Ranma.
      "Fine then, you force me to unleash my ultimate attack! Tankit Duxen!" A ball of swirling gray and black energy raced from his palms at Ranma.
      "Mouko Takabishi!"
      The two spheres of energy met in the space between the dueling martial artists and exploded in a dazzling display of light and energy. Ranma didn't wait for it to die down, but rushed through the middle of it and clashed with a shocked Tsin. When the light died down, the others were able to see a victorious Ranma standing over the beaten form of Tsin.
      "That's what ya get, jerk!" Ranma said as he stormed over to where the others were waiting. "Don't you worry about what that guy said. You're improving a lot!" Ranma said to Feather, "There are still a lot of things you've got to learn, but that will come with time."
      Feather nodded once, a confident gleam back in her eye.
      "That's the spirit!" Ranma patted her on the shoulder, "So, shall we pick up your training where we left off?"
      "So that's it," Tsin's weak voice interrupted, "You were training her. I guess I must apologize to you both for interrupting the training."
      "You got that right!" Ranma snapped.
      "Ranma..." Feather admonished him.
      "Still, I thought I had perfected my art."
      "Ain't no way the Art can be perfected!" Ranma turned to glare at him. "The Art continues to grow and change as new techniques are made. Anyone who thinks that they have perfected their art are simply too lazy to put forth that extra bit of effort to learn something new. They are the ones that get stagnant and will never become a true martial artist!"
      Tsin looked taken aback for a moment before he nodded. "I see. Then I must be on my way then, it seems that I must continue my own training." And without so much as a wave, he turned and limped off into the woods.
      "Do you think he'll learn from what you told him?" Akane asked.
      "Who knows and who cares?" Ranma snorted, "Let's just worry about ourselves for now."

      The mood in the Tendo Dojo was somber as Shampoo and Mousse finished telling everyone gathered there what they had seen towards the end of their disastrous assault. Soun had been taken outside due to his wailing drowning out the soft, hesitant words coming from Shampoo.
      "There's still a chance they are alive," Ryuunosuke said as he sipped at his tea.
      "What are you talking about?" Naoli snapped. "No-one knows what happened to them when they went through that... that thing!"
      "I think that that is his point," Moiri said as the diminutive ninja master began pacing up and down the table. "You said that they were trying to build some kind of transportation device, boy?" he asked Ryuunosuke.
      "Yes, they had stolen the plans from my organization."
      "Then that means they could be anywhere by now," Nabiki said.
      "Oh dear, and they don't have their winter coats with them," Kasumi lamented as she looked outside at the gently falling snow.
      "I'll contact my people and tell them to keep a look out for them," Ryuunosuke said as he stood. "We..." His voice trailed off as they heard the front door open and then shut.
      "We're home!" Akane's weary voice announced.
      No one in the room moved for a split second before Shampoo leapt down the hallway.
      "Airen! You is home! Shampoo so happy!" She said gleefully as she bounced down the hall and disappeared around the corner.
      "My little girl! She's home!" Soun yelled as he ran down the hall after her.
      "Shampoo!" Mousse called after her, tears running out from under his glasses. "You said..." he broke off and blushed as he looked guiltily at the curious people in the room.
      "What did she say, Mousse?" Cologne asked as she snickered. "I'm sure we'd all just love to know."
      "Ah, nothing," He said as he sat back down.
      As they entered the living room, Kasumi gasped in shock. All of their clothes were ragged and dirty, like they had been wearing the same clothes for almost a month, rather than the day or two that they were supposedly missing. Akane and Feather's hair were disheveled and in much need of a thorough washing.
      "C'mon Shampoo, let go!" Ranma complained as he tried to get her to release him.
      "Shampoo not ever want to let Airen go again!" she purred.
      "That's enough for tonight, Shampoo. Come, we must see to the store before opening tomorrow," Cologne said as she led the amazons from the Tendo home.
      "You must be very tired," Kasumi said firmly as she hugged Akane in greeting. "But I insist that you all take a bath first!"
      "What? No welcome home?" Ranma quipped. Akane elbowed him in the gut almost absently.
      "Welcome home Akane, Ranma, Ryouga, Feather," Kasumi smiled before she held up a stack of towels. "Now go take a bath, all of you."
      "Uhhh... You don't mean at once, do you?" Ryouga asked in a very small voice as he turned a very bright red.
      To everyone's surprise, Kasumi gave him an arch little smile and winked. "If that works for you..."
      Ryouga immediately started backing away as Ranma and Akane started giving her shocked looks.
      "Kasumi? Are you all right?" Akane asked.
      Kasumi giggled a bit. "Of course I'm all right, Akane. Now why don't you and Feather go take your bath now. I'll send the boys to the bathroom we had put in upstairs a while back."
      "Gee Akane, did you forget about that?" Nabiki said with a smile.
      Akane blushed a little in embarrassment before she walked off with Feather right behind her.
      "Hey, where's pop?" Ranma asked as he looked around.
      "Genma has been staying out late every night running around town looking for you," Kasumi said softly. "He usually gets back very late, and he leaves shortly after breakfast every morning."
      "Wow..." Ranma said, wide eyed. "I had no idea he was gonna be like that. C'mon, Ryouga. Let's get cleaned up."
      "Just a sec!" Ryouga said as he dug around in his pack for a minute before pulling out a slightly battered briefcase and handed it to a startled Ryuunosuke.
      "What's this?" he asked.
      "It's got the only copy of the plans for that machine in it that Akane apparently found," Ryouga said with a grin. "Don't lose them this time."

      It was almost midnight when Genma Saotome stumbled into the Tendo Dojo that night. He was still wracking his brains trying to figure out how he could explain to his wife that he allowed not only their son, but their newly adopted daughter to get themselves killed. He hadn't given up all hope, however. He had spent the entire day running from train station to train station, hoping that they would come in on one of the trains. The previous day, he had watched the major roads into Tokyo.
      "I'll find you, my son," he swore as he walked into the house. "I'll pack my bags tonight and leave in the morning to find you!"
      "No need for that," Soun said as he walked out of the kitchen with two beer steins. He handed one to Genma as they sat at the table.
      "But Ranma is out there, and I need to find him!" Genma exclaimed.
      "They came home today," Soun said softly. "A little rough looking and tired, but they are all home safe now."
      "My friend," Genma said, his voice thick with emotion as he raised his stein.
      "Our schools will be joined!" Soun said as he clinked his stein against Genma's and they drank to their good fortune.
      "Knock it off! Some of us are trying to sleep!" Naoli snapped as she flung a shoe at Genma.
      "Tell me again why she's still here?" Genma asked in a low voice, ignoring the shoe that bounced off his baldhead.
      "She had a case of hypothermia," Soun whispered. "Dr. Tofu thought it would be better if she stayed here where it's warm for a week or so to recover." He paused and gave Genma an odd look. "At least she's paying full rent."
      Genma coughed a few times uncomfortably before he stood and retired to his room. Soun grinned as he drained his beer before he too sought his bed.
      Once they were gone, Naoli smiled to herself, stood, and walked over to the window, her lithe form covered only by a pale blue negligee. She sighed slightly to herself as she watched the snowflakes continue to fall.
      "I wonder what it would have been like to have a loving family like this?" She asked herself softly. Outside, the snow continued to fall in a continual display of the purity in nature, oblivious and uncaring of mankind.

      The next morning found Ranma, Ryouga, Akane and Feather dashing towards Furinkan High.
      "You know," Ranma grumbled as he ran along the fence, a rather ratty looking scarf around his neck. "We coulda stayed away another day and arrived here on Sunday. You were the one that didn't want to spend even one more night camped on the roadside."
      "I forgot that this was the week we had to come in on Saturday, ok!" Akane countered. She smiled to herself, pleased to see that Ranma was wearing the scarf she had knitted for him last Christmas.
      "I just hope that Kuno don't slow us down today," Ryouga said.
      Feather merely smiled to herself as she ran with them. More than any crazy adventure, this was where she wanted to be; amongst friends, family and the occasional annoying idiot.