Author's note: I'm sorry to everyone who got the wrong idea about this story!! I changed the description to avoid that happening again (I hope).

Thanks for all the comments guys, I'm taking them all into consideration and if I use them in the future, I'll do my best to remember to credit you for it. I'm probably not going to follow every quest, just 'cause some of them really suck (especially those dealing with Flayers ha ha).

* * *

"Are you feeling better?"

Ranma looked up from the fire to see Akane, returned to her normal sorceress garb standing next to him. She appeared to be carrying a steaming plate of meat and a cup of tea. He looked back at the fire with a shrug.

Akane sat down next to him and handed him the plate of food. She brought her feet to her chest and tried to think of what to say. The whole engagement arrangement still hadn't been straightened out and now with Ukyo, there was a chance that it might be cancelled.

Not that it mattered, Akane told herself. There's no way she would marry a boorish, insensitive creep like Ranma no matter how many times he came to her rescue. Besides, it's not like he thought of her as anything more than a nuisance. She was just in his way to a cure for his curse.

"I think your father should be okay. Ukyo was a bit upset when she got back," Akane said with a small smile. But it elicited no reaction from Ranma. "And Cologne thinks that as soon as we clear the cathedral we can be on our way."

Akane sighed and looked over at Ranma. With a playful punch, she laughed and said, "It'll be okay!"

Ranma looked over at her smiling and nodded slowly. "Thanks Akane. Is this dinner for me?"

Akane nodded enthusiastically as he picked up the dish. Ranma took a piece of meat and put it in his mouth. He looked at Akane and tried to bit through the meat but found it was close to impossible. It was over cooked, over seasoned, and hard like a brick. This would have the perfect opportunity to use some tact but then tact was never Ranma's strong suit.

"This is horrible!" he cried, trying to choke the last bit of it down.

"What?" Akane asked, trying not to look too hurt.

"This is the worst thing I've ever eaten! What did you do to it??"

"I just cooked it!" Akane yelled. "You are so mean!"

"Mean? You're the one trying to kill me!"

Akane's attempt to keep her anger down suddenly failed and her aura flashed bright red. "Ranma no BAKA!" she cried, walloping him and sending him flying. She watched him for a few seconds before she grabbed the plate.

"And to think," Akane said to herself, "that I actually felt sorry for the jerk and tried to help. I mean, how bad could it be?" She picked up a piece of meat and put it in her mouth. A second later, she was desperately searching for the tea to wash away the taste.

* * *

Ranma watched the camp draw away from him and then slowly zoom in as he fell back to the ground. This was going to hurt. Shampoo left her grandmother's tent just as Ranma landed in a crumpled heap in front of her. She looked down at him and shook her head.

"Paladin say something dumb to fiancée?" Ranma groaned. "Which one?" Ranma groaned even louder. Shampoo smiled and pulled him off the ground and into a sitting position. "No want two fiancées?"

"No want… I mean, I don't want any fiancées," Ranma replied, rubbing his head.

"Hmmm," Shampoo said. "Some men like many girls around them. Sure no want third fiancée?" She added blinking her eyes suggestively. Ranma paled considerably.

Ranma laughed nervously, holding his hand at his head. After a moment he got up. "Well, I guess I better go check on…"

"Hello Ranma."

"Ucchan!" Ranma said as the Assassin appeared. He didn't know whether to run or just take another beating. Come to think of it, if he ran, he'd probably get beat up worse than if he just stayed. "What's up?" he asked, slowly shifting to a defensive stance.

"I heard Akane tried to poison you," Ukyo said evenly. Then she broke out into a huge grin. "So I thought I would make you some okonomiyaki!" Ranma thought about his experience with okonomiyaki and cringed. But Ukyo just smiled. "No assassin stuff though, I promise."

After a few more seconds of thinking and a rumble from his stomach, Ranma agreed and followed her as she moved away from the Amazon's tent.

"He is a strong one," Cologne said, emerging from the shadows.

Shampoo nodded. "But he not want to get married to anyone." She sighed. "Shampoo have no chance."

Cologne shook her head. "You misjudge the situation. He will make a fine husband for you and create a strong breed of Amazon fighters. This is larger than just you, my child. We will have to make Ranma fall in love with you."

"Shampoo agree," Shampoo added with a nod. She followed Cologne back into the tent to plot. So they never heard the strangled cry from the shadows nor saw the crushed Necromancer take off.

* * *

Akane was still sitting at the fire when Ryoga found her. She had her legs up to her chest and was gazing into the fire, where it appeared a plate of food was burning away. Ryoga struggled for a moment to find the right words to say. But before he could prepare anymore, Akane looked up and saw him.

"Ryoga," she said with a bit of disappointment in her voice.

"H… hi Akane," Ryoga replied sitting down. "How's it going?"

Akane shrugged. "Okay," she said. "I was kind of hoping that you were Ranma. I think I made a mistake earlier."

"Really?" Ryoga said, trying to hide his own disappointment at her mention of his rival. "What did you do?"

"I got mad when he told me my cooking was bad," Akane said. "It wasn't too good but… but he could have been nicer about it!"

"What did he say?" Ryoga asked, getting a bit angrier.

"He said it was horrible, that it was the worse thing he had ever eaten, that… sniff… I was trying to kill him!"

Ryoga stood. "That jerk! I won't let him say things like that to you."

"Ryoga, wait!" Akane said as the boy stormed off. She stood up quickly to follow him.

* * *

"This is really good Ukyo," Ranma said with a smile. "I'm glad you're not upset anymore."

Ukyo shrugged. "It wasn't your fault, I guess. Besides, you can make it up to me by keeping the promise our parents made."

Ranma nodded as he ate the meal, not really thinking. "Considering my other choice is Akane… you're a lot cuter and can cook a lot better."

"You think I'm cute?" Ukyo asked, her eyes enlarging. A huge smile broke out on her face. Meanwhile, Ranma was still consuming his okonomiyaki and was fairly oblivious to what was going on.

"TRAITOR!"

Ranma stopped eating long enough to see Ryoga approaching him on the right and Mousse coming from the left. He finished his okonomiyaki at the same moment they reached him.

"How dare you!" Ryoga said pointing a finger at him.

"I thought you were my friend," Mousse cried.

Ranma suddenly realized they were talking about him. "What did I do??" he asked.

"You insulted Akane," Ryoga said. "I won't stand for it!"

"You're trying to steal Shampoo from me," Mousse retorted. "I heard her talking about how she's going to marry you!"

"What?" Ukyo said, standing up.

Akane chose that moment to appear. "Ryoga," she said reaching him. "Please listen, I don't want any…"

"Shampoo is your fiancée too?" Ukyo demanded.

Akane whipped her head around to face Ranma. "What?"

"I don't know what the hell Mousse is talking about!" Ranma said standing out.

"Well, I don't think he just made it up!" Ukyo said.

"What go on here?" Shampoo said, deciding to join the group at the worst possible moment. "Can here yelling to end of camp."

"Why don't you tell us?" Ukyo replied. "Mousse heard that you were going to marry Ranma."

Shampoo paused long enough to realize what a mess she had just stepped into. She looked over at Mousse with an unhappy expression. "Why stupid duck boy make mess?"

"But Shampoo," Mousse cried. "I thought you were going to marry me!"

Shampoo looked at him with no emotion. "Why would Amazon marry dumb Necromancer like you?" Mousse's face cracked first to sorrow then to anger as he looked at Ranma.

"This is all your fault," he said. "You've seduced her!"

"Have you no morals?" Ryoga demanded.

"Well, I guess two just wasn't enough for you," Ukyo cried.

"I didn't ask her to MARRY ME!" Ranma yelled.

"Course not," Shampoo said. "Why Amazon wait for man to decide? Make decision self."

The group paused for a moment to process the information. Ukyo was the first one to get it. "So Ranma didn't know," she said. "It was your decision."

"No, Ranma know," Shampoo said. "No say no when Shampoo ask him."

"I thought you were kidding!" Ranma said.

"So it is true!" Mousse said. "You treasonous…"

"Where's Akane?" Ryoga asked, suddenly realizing the sorceress was no longer behind him.

"What's going on here?" Genma asked as he and Soun walked up to fighting children.

"Ranma got engaged to Shampoo!" Ukyo said. Genma cringed when she spoke and then was visibly relieved. Meanwhile, Soun's face started to twitch a bit.

"Well," he said. "That certainly was not my fault!"

"I didn't get engaged to her!" Ranma cried. "Besides none of that's important now. Akane's gone. Have you seen her?"

Genma looked at his son and shook his head. "We just walked across camp and saw no sign of her. Did she say that…"

"RANMA…" Everyone froze as Soun's demon head filled the sky. "What did you do to my little GIRL!!"

* * *

Akane shifted the burden on her back as she made her way though the forest outside the Rouge Encampment. Stupid Ranma. If he wanted to get married to Shampoo then he could just do that. But she had better things to do, like finding her sisters. They hadn't found them in the Countess' tower. Akane shuddered at that memory.

With any luck, Nabiki and Kasumi had teleported to the East. And a single sorceress should be able to travel through the land quickly and undetected. She had learned enough skills for her protection. This would be fine, she had nothing to worry about.

"Lost, little girl?"

Akane jumped, cursing herself for not paying more attention to the road. There was a man standing in front of her. Or at least it looked like a man. There was something almost reptilian about him.

"No," Akane replied, reaching for her wand. "I'm fine."

The man nodded slowly and began to circle her. Akane prepared her first spell but he laughed. "Don't try that, sorceress. Fire is my specialty as well."

"Who are you?" Akane demanded.

"A sorcerer, like yourself," the man said. "Well, not like you. I'm not a traitor to my clan."

Akane paused and studied the man closely taking in his appearance, his recent words before she finally understood. "You're one of them, aren't you, the sorcerers in the East that my teacher spoke about. The ones that she escaped from."

"She didn't escape," the man said. "She turned her back on our ways, stole our secrets and has spread them across the four corner of this earth with her partners."

"You're lying," Akane replied defiantly.

The man smiled. "She didn't tell you about her history."

"She told us that she and the rest of the woman revolted against you to gain equality. And that you hated them so much for it that they had to flee their homeland." Akane watched as the man continued to smile as he shrugged.

"Difference of opinion," he said.

"What do you want with me?" she demanded.

He looked at her. "I want to help," he replied. "You see, we've come to learn that a woman sorceress can actually do some spells better than her male counterpart," he continued with some contempt. "So I want to teach you a spell that will be of more use to you."

"No way," Akane said.

"Why not?" the man said. "What's wrong with I'm offering you? I will give you a spell that will make you extremely powerful." He paused. "Maybe more powerful than the rest of those girls."

Akane's eyes flashed. "Now I now that you're not someone I can trust. Who are you and why are you really here?"

"AKANE!"

Akane heard her name being called but she didn't turn away. The man laughed. "Very good, not turning around so I could escape."

"My friends will be here soon," Akane said. "And then we'll find out who you really are."

The man sighed. "If that's all you want then, my name is Herb. But as for waiting for your friends, another time perhaps." He cast a lightning smile and the flash blinded Akane. By the time she could see again, he had teleported away. In his place, however, was a scroll.

"AKANE! ARE YOU OKAY?"

Akane could hear them running towards her. She glanced at the scroll, feeling a deep sense of foreboding overcoming her. She shouldn't touch it. She should let her father or Mr. Saotome identify it. But something overpowered her common sense and she ran up and grabbed it, stuffing it in her pack before they reached her.

Ranma and Ryoga reached her a few seconds later. "Where did you go?" Ranma demanded. "Why do you have all your stuff?"

"Are you okay?" Ryoga asked. "We saw a flash of lightning."

Akane looked at them and tried to formulate a response. The rest of the group, attracted by the flash of light reached the site before she could say anything. They all looked at her.

"The lightning was mine," she said finally. "I wanted to try out some new spells, so I brought my scrolls," she continued indicating the pack on her shoulder, "and got clear of the camp."

"Well, try telling someone first before you do that again," Ranma yelled.

"I didn't think anyone would care," she yelled back before she walked away and headed back towards the camp.

"Argh," Ranma cursed. "I don't know why I even bother!" He walked after her, followed quickly by Ryoga, who wanted to catch up with Akane and not get lost in the forest. Ukyo quickly followed them.

Those left behind were silent for a few moments until the rest of them were gone.

"Shampoo no believe," Shampoo said.

Soun nodded. "Akane is hiding something."

"And whatever it's not good," Mousse said. "I feel like there is something evil nearby."

Genma nodded. "I agree. There are no animals or monsters in this area. They've all fled."

"Shampoo will find truth," Shampoo said firmly. "Just need time."

* * *

Akane sat at the fire and tried to ignore the burning desire to reach into her bag and read the scroll. Luckily, everyone was putting off her behavior as the result of a fight with Ranma. And while she was extremely angry at him for picking up yet another fiancée, there was something larger on her mind.

"Sorceress girl meditate? Or can talk?"

Akane looked up as Shampoo sat down next to her. Akane shook her head. "I mean, I can talk. I was just thinking."

"Think about Paladin?" Shampoo asked.

"I'd really rather not talk about it with you," she snapped.

Shampoo shrugged. "Is okay. Shampoo know you not understand Amazon life. Would not understand what Shampoo say anyway."

"Whatever," Akane replied, suddenly getting interested in the ground.

"Shampoo want to ask something. Sorceress make lightning today. Can help Shampoo learn lightning magic?"

Akane was a bit startled but hoped she covered it up enough. "Why?"

"Akane say that Amazon can learn magic, fight better. Shampoo remember story about Amazon who use lightning."

Akane paused. "Well, I don't know," she said. "I don't think I'm experience enough to teach someone else about lightning."

"Just small thing," Shampoo pressed. "Small spell."

Akane stood up. "Look, I just don't think it's a good idea teaching you or anyone else for that matter lightning spells. I have to go," she said taking her pack.

Shampoo watched her go and frowned. Mousse can by a moment later and sat next to her. "Akane lie. Not know thing about lightning spell."

Mousse nodded. "I agree. But what is she lying about?" Shampoo shrugged. Mousse paused, pulling at his robe until he pulled out a small flower and put it in front of Shampoo's face. Shampoo sighed, looking at him and it. With a quick motion, she took a ladle of cold water from the bucket near her and splashed him. Mousse shrank in his robes and Muu-muu duck soon emerged.

"Stupid duck boy not get message yet," she said standing up and gathering Mousse's robes with him still in them. She was about to walk away when she stopped and put the robe over Muu-muu's head. The duck, now blind, started to quack angrily. Sure that he couldn't see, she reached down and picked up the flower.

* * *

Ranma paced around the tent for a few moments longer before he finally mustered up the courage to face Akane. This was her fault anyway, over- reacting to everything. Didn't she get that he didn't want any fiancées! And what was with running away like that? Not that she believed for a second that she was practicing magic. Knowing her, she was blowing things up, being the violent tomboy she…

"Do you want something?" Akane said, peeking her head out of the tent.

Ranma jumped back and looked at her. She had changed from her sorceress outfit into a warm nightshirt. Her hair was free of the headpiece she tended to wear. Relaxed and out of uniform, she almost looked cute.

Ranma shook the thought away and cleared his throat. "I just wanted to make sure you knew we were leaving at dawn."

Akane frowned. So much for an apology. "I know," she said coldly.

"Good," Ranma said, struggling to say more. "I wouldn't want to leave you behind." Her eyebrow arched upward. "I mean… we need a good magic caster and what with Pop and Mousse not being much help at all…"

Akane started to smile. "So you think I'm helpful."

"Sure," Ranma said. "I mean your aim sucks but the whole brute strength comes in handy."

Akane scowled at him. "I should have known then to have expected you to say something nice. Good night!" she said throwing the flap of the tent down and collapsing inside.

Stupid Ranma, she thought bitterly. Thinks I'm not good enough to help. Well Ukyo can cook and Shampoo can kill anything, so what good am I?

She glanced over at her pack. She thought about the scroll and what Herb had said. Well, it wouldn't help to just look. She reached over and pulled it out her bag. She started to unroll it, ignoring the sudden dip in temperature around her. She started to read it, her eyes widen as she read the words.