It didn't take long for the five visitors from Nerima, Japan to finish packing, since most of what they brought along was still in their traveling packs. Each member of the traveling party arrived at the dining hall at different times.

Kuno was the first to arrive. Taking a quick look around, he heads towards the doors leading the way out when he doesn't see anyone else. He reaches for the door handle, but hesitates. Glancing behind him, he expected to see one of the other members of the group standing there looking very cross with him, instead he found that no one else had walked into the dining hall yet.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he pushes the door open. The mid-morning sun was shining brightly in the light-blue sky. Kuno took a deep breath of fresh air, while letting the warmth of the sun sweep over his body. Standing in the doorway, he let out his big breath, ending it with one word, "Perfect." Sticking his left foot out, he prepared himself for a solo journey, only to have someone grab a hold of his kendo uniform's collar and yank him back inside the dining hall.

Laying on the ground, Kuno stares up at the person who had grabbed him. Looking down at him was Genma, with a very obvious frown on his face. "Not quite. I wouldn't try that again if I were you," he told the surprised teenager.

Getting up off the ground, Kuno muttered under his breath, "We'll just see about that," low enough that the old man couldn't hear him.

To older boy's disappointment the remaining members of the group arrived at the dining hall less than ten minutes later, one right after the other with Soun being last to appear. They walked in to find Genma sitting in a chair against the wall next to the exit and Kuno sitting at the table leering at the old man. None of the others bothered to ask what had happened before they had gotten there, one glance at how displeased Genma looked told them that Kuno had tried to leave on his own.

Just as Soun was about to reprimand the idiotic boy for his actions, the door leading out of the dining hall opened and in walked Captain Johza.

"Everyone ready? Then lets go," he said, holding the door open for the others.

As Ranma and Ryoga were walking out the door, Soun grabs Kuno's upper arm, lifting him out of his chair, shoves his pack into his chest and pushes him out next. Genma followed after Soun. Making sure nothing was left behind, the Captain closes the dining hall door.

Once outside everyone else was waiting for Johza's instructions, "This journey should be an easy one. We will be hiking upstream alongside the river not too far from here. The river should lead us directly to the base of the Shikotaido mountains. However, the trail to the mountains requires us to hike through a forest for most of the time. Be careful, because you could easily get lost in the woods, but as long as you stay near the river you should be fine. Since we have a few hours to go until noon, I was hoping we could at least make it to the outskirts of the forest before stopping for lunch. So lets head out."

With Johza leading the way and Soun and Genma bringing in the rear; so they could keep an eye on Kuno; the band of travelers headed for the palace gates.

Halfway to the gates, a woman stops them. They notice that she is carrying a few bundles of something. She explained that she was sent there to give the five visitors these bundles prior to them leaving on their journey. Before they left the palace courtyard, the clothes they had worn the previous two days were handed back to their owners, clean and ready to go with them. Ranma's red Chinese shirt that was burned by Akane's Hi-Karyu-Ken attack and sliced by the Prince's Hito Ryu-Zan Ha attack had been sewn back together so well, that it looked like it hadn't been burnt and cut up at all. Thanking the nice lady before she left, they resumed their march to the palace gates.

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Johza's plan worked out really well. They had made excellent time when they reached the outskirts of the forest. Since the entire group was so well-traveled, the Captain decided to continue walking into the woods a little ways before stopping for lunch. After finding a small clearing to sit down and relax, Soun took out the food Kasumi had packed for them. Too bad most of the food had gone bad after being unrefridgerated for nearly three days, all that remained was some fruit.

Johza; being prepared for this little inconvenience; took a small fishing net out of his pack, went back to the river, took off his boots and started wading in the river, casting the net out. Not long after, the dozen fish he caught had been cleaned, cooked; thanks to some matches Soun had in his pack; and eaten. Not to be outdone, Ryoga told everyone that he would supply dinner when it came.

Before starting back up, Johza filled several canteens up with water while everyone else cleaned the campsite. Soun disposed of the rotten food, washed out the containers and repacked them. He was surprised to see that Ryoga hadn't eaten the apple that was given to him.

"I have my reasons. It'll come in handy later," answered the boy.

Acknowledging the answer with a nod, the old man decided against pressing the issue. After handing everyone a canteen of water, Johza and the others continued on their way upstream. Periodically, whenever the Captain stopped to rest, the entire band of travelers took a few minutes to take a drink of water and relax before starting up again.

Much to Kuno's dismay Genma and Soun were taking turns keeping an eye on him whenever the group rested, making sure he didn't try anything stupid. 'I'll take off for those mountains when everyone else goes to sleep tonight,' the teenager told himself.

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Although no one really knew how far the group had traveled, Captain Johza was very pleased. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm sure we'll be near the Shikotaido Mountains by tomorrow night or by lunchtime the next day at least," he told the others as they were setting up camp for the night.

Hoping to keep his word, Ryoga let everyone else put the campsite together, while he went into the woods to find dinner. When he was alone, he placed the apple he had from earlier on a tree stump. Walking a couple of steps, he turned to face the apple. Taking off one of his bandanas, he twirls it in his hand and flings it at the fruit, cutting it cleanly in two. Picking the apple halves off of the tree stump, he had a plan to use them as bait.

Placing the apple slices on the ground, Ryoga went to hide behind a nearby bush. Keeping an eye on the apple, he wondered what he would catch with the bait. While he was waiting, he knew the others were waiting on him. "Come on. Something please appear and take the bait," he whispered, losing his patience.

About ready to give up, he notices some rustling brush not to far off from where he was. However, watching whatever it was, was getting difficult because the sun was setting on the horizon and it started getting darker. Ryoga stayed motionless, ready to attack whatever it was coming towards his trap. Straining his eyes through the deepening darkness, he kept his focus on the target as it came closer.

He was startled by someone poking him in the back. He doesn't move, but whispers, "Very funny Ranma, leave me alone."

After getting poked for a second time, Ryoga says, "I mean it," a little more sternly, closing his eyes to calm himself down.

Opening his eyes again, he had lost track of what he was looking at. 'Great,' he tells himself and he gets poked in the back once more. "I said, 'leave me alone!'," he yelled, thrusting his elbow back at whoever was poking him, not making contact with anything in particular.

A loud roar made him turn around finally. Ryoga was staring face to face with an angry bear. Paralyzed with fear, he couldn't do anything but sit there as the bear stood on its hind legs. Standing taller than an average man, the bear was going to attack. Ryoga tried to get away, but his foot was tangled in some roots. Putting his arms up to protect his face and closing his eyes, he embraced himself for the attack.

The bear's front paws landed on Ryoga's chest, pushing him away. Keeping his balance, his foot came loose in time for the bear to charge forward. Headbutting the lost boy in the gut, the bear sent him flying through the air. Landing on top of the apple with a squishing sound, he decided to take a chance. Gathering energy, he shouts, "Shi Shi Hokodan!" and fires a Lion's Roar Blast aimed at the bear.

Instead of hitting his target, the ki attack passed right thru it. "What the?" he says, as the bear roars at him again.

Scrambling to his feet, the panic stricken teen ran away in a hurry. Under normal circumstances, Ryoga always had a bad sense of direction, but his train of thought at the moment was that any direction away from the bear was a good one.

Not realizing he made it back to camp, the lost boy ran past the fire that had been built during his absence. In the fire were some fish cooking very nicely. Surprising everyone as he ran by them, he didn't even acknowledge their existence.

"What's wrong?" asked Ranma.

Ryoga didn't give an answer as he tripped over his backpack. Before he could pick up speed again, Captain Johza tackled the boy to the ground.

"Let me go! There's a bear in those woods!" he shouts.

Releasing his hold, Johza begins brushing off the crushed apple pieces he got from Ryoga's backside saying, "Relax, there aren't any bears in this forest."

"Then what was that I saw? It looked and sounded like a bear to me," argued the frightened youth.

"I don't know what it was that you saw, but I'm telling you there are no bears in these woods. Trust me," the Captain assured him, standing up.

Walking back to the fire, Johza takes two of the cooked fish and handed them to Ryoga. "Calm down and eat these, please," he said.

"Thanks, but I said that I would supply dinner," answered the boy, taking the fish with a shaky hand.

"We got tired of waiting for you. So we went fishing again," replied Ranma, sitting back down next to his sleeping bag.

Even though he tried to eat the fish, every little sound made the lost boy jump in fear.

"Why don't you tell us what happened in there a few minutes ago?" asked Johza.

"Well, I took the apple that Mr. Tendo had given me earlier and tried using it as bait to catch dinner," explained the terrified youth, "I hid in a nearby bush, waiting for something to show up. While I was waiting something poked me in the back. At first I thought it was Ranma playing a joke on me."

"Sounds like something he would do," interrupted Genma.

"Now's not the time for jokes, pop," said Ranma.

"Anyway, whoever it was that was poking me did it two more times. By the third time, I was a little mad. I yelled and threw my elbow back, hoping to catch the person by surprise. I didn't hit anything and thought nothing of it really. When I heard a roar, I turned around and I was looking at this bear-" continued Ryoga before being interrupted again.

"But I told you there aren't any bears in these woods," butted in Captain Johza.

"I know what I saw, Captain. Please let me finish," retorted the lost boy, continuing his story, "So, I get headbutted by this bear and I land on the apple. I quickly fired a ki blast at it, but the attack passed right thru the bear like it wasn't even there. I ran away real fast after that and you know the rest of the story," finished the teen, calmer now than he was when he started telling them what happened.

"Hold on a second. You said your attack went thru the bear. Could it have missed and you thought it went thru it instead?" asked Soun, taking his eyes off Kuno for a second.

"I don't think so. I aimed for the bear's chest and even though it was a live target, my attack should've effected it at some degree," answered Ryoga.

"I'm sorry, but it just doesn't sound right, you know," said Ranma, "There isn't any way your attack should've passed thru the bear. It should have hurt it some way."

They both knew they were right, because they know that when using ki-style attack on an inanimate or non-living object, the target doesn't have the proper emotional energy in which to counteract the emotion used to fuel the ki-style attack. Thus the object would be completely destroyed. However, if the target of the ki attack was something alive; even a plant or a tree; the life energy it gives off will act like a shield; a sponge if you will; and absorb the ki attack. Even though the life energy will absorb the attack, like a sponge it couldn't absorb it all, so the target would still be taking damage from the hit, but not at the same strength as a non-living target.

"Are you sure you're not leaving anything out? Maybe the bear got out of the way of your attack? Maybe you did hit it and you couldn't tell you did?" wondered Genma.

"I told you guys everything that happened in there and no, I watched my blast go thru the bear, it didn't move. If I had hit it I would know, it would've been in pain and it's fur would've been burnt. But there were no signs of physical damage after I had fired off my attack," replied Ryoga, slightly angry and tired of all the questions.

"Well, whatever it was and whatever happened in there is over with, so let's try to get some sleep so we can start off early tomorrow," requested Johza, laying down on the straw-woven mat he brought with him.

"You're awfully quiet over there Kuno. Why is that?" asked Ranma.

"I have no desire of wanting to be in your conservation at the moment," said the upperclassman as he readied himself for bed.

Closing his eyes, he pretended to drift off to sleep, but instead he waited for the others to fall asleep before he left on his own.

"Oh, okay whatever," shrugged the boy, shutting his eyes as well.

"Shouldn't someone keep watch for any wild animals?" asked Ryoga, worried.

"There's no need to, the fire is enough of a deterrent for the animals," answered Johza, taking a yawn.

Before anyone could really drift to sleep, they were startled by a shout coming from Kuno's direction.

"What is the meaning of this? Why have you tied me down to my sleeping bag? Release me at once," ordered the angry teenager, struggling to get out of the bindings Genma put him in.

The old man tells him, "After what you tried to do this morning, I'm not taking any chances with you. So quiet down and go to sleep."

"How can I sleep with this uncomfortable rope holding me down?" wondered the helpless youth.

"If you're tired enough you'll fall asleep whether you're tied up or not. Giving in and going to bed is you're best option, unless you want to be tied to a tree," threatened the old man, walking back over to him.

"No, this will do quite nicely, thank you," replied the older boy, closing his eyes.

Chuckling, Johza says, "That's enough of that. Please, let's get some sleep."