They had finally done it. After effectively a week and a half's efforts, they were finally able to make a raft that was not only buoyant but supported both of them. The couple was overjoyed, but they still had work to do. Instead of having a day of rest, both Shampoo and Ryoga decided to prepare for the time they sail for Nerima.
Shampoo decided to scavenge for fish in her cat form, while Ryoga foraged on the shore and forest. Both gathered plenty of food, but will it be enough for how long they'll be out on the water? After taking off multiple bandanas and making a cloth baggie for all of their cooked food, and assorted berries, night fell upon them. They were both tired, but also too eager to fall asleep. As they sat by the adjacent fire of sitting on the ground, Shampoo and Ryoga are quiet. Almost introspective.
The fire crackled softly, Ryoga looking over at Shampoo with a ridiculous grin on his face. It was silent, but it was a comfortable silence. A loving silence. Yet...
Both of them were still nervous.
"Ryoga?" Shampoo asked, sitting next to the boy, "We go home tomorrow right?"
"Yes, Shampoo. First thing in the morning, we'll push the raft off-shore and start heading in a direction," she gleamed.
"Shampoo so happy. Finally leaving stupid island behind! Aiyah!" Ryoga chuckled to himself.
"I know, this was a training trip that I never wanna experience again..." He looked over at his violet-haired beauty. "Well, I'm glad I got to experience it with you Shampoo," both grew silent again, before Ryoga smiled warmly, "I think that I couldn't've picked a better person to do this with—you were just the right choice."
"Shampoo, so happy to hear that Ryoga..." she shuffled over to the bandana-wearing boy, and gave him a soft hug. "Shampoo, so relieved to have husband that cares for her. Husband that strong and smart." Pause. "Well, smart when not too angry." Ryoga laughed sheepishly.
"Do you want to try and get some sleep Shampoo? I don't want us to be too tired in the morning."
She nodded, "Shampoo not tired, but think it's best thing to do."
After the two teens huddled together—Shampoo noting that Ryoga didn't jump when she wrapped her hands over his chest—they both slept soundly and peacefully.
Tomorrow came quickly. The sun beamed on the naked teens and Shampoo was the first to wake up. Her stirring, awoke Ryoga, as they were so close together, but after some hot water to drink, and a major boost of confidence, seeing that their bag of food wasn't taken or ripped apart by an animal, the two looked at the shabby raft.
It was fine craftsmanship for both of them. Ryoga, even going as far as to make a large paddle, to steer and push the boat. Shampoo grabbed the bag of food and hopped onto the vehicle, as Ryoga pushed the raft with relative ease. Now floating in the water, Ryoga did his own lengthy jump onto the raft—nearly submerging it in the process—and the pair, started to celebrate.
After, lord knows how long, of being trapped on that island, being unable to see their friends, family, bathe, or sleep in a bed, things would hopefully change.
...
It was a surreal experience. Paddling this large raft over a massive amount of water. Of course, Shampoo figured to bring the scorchingly hot kettle with them to prevent any accidents from happening so early on, but it would only last for at most a few hours. They were really testing fate doing this, but getting nervous now wouldn't do anything, but potentially strand them out in the sea.
As Ryoga began paddling the raft forwards, Shampoo was at the front of the raft, looking for any signs of danger, life, or a combination of the two. Nothing stuck out to her and it was like this for a lot longer than she'd like to admit. Although both of their concepts of time were warped from being on the island—more Shampoo than Ryoga as she's not used to being away from civilization, like Ryoga is—they could tell hours had passed, even though it looked like the sun hadn't moved positions since they first voyaged. Ryoga and Shampoo were both deadly nervous, both of them haven't said a peep to each other. Ryoga originally wanted to, but the second he did, he almost got too distracted and slightly strayed away from Shampoo's path. Since then he'd been so determined to not mess up that he was basically sweating more than a sunbaked pig. Shampoo noticed her fiancé's stress.
"Is Ryoga okay?"
"..." He looked up and nodded to her curtly, "Just focusing."
"Shampoo think focusing too hard." She shuffled towards him on the raft and patted his burly shoulders, "Relax, we be okay Ryoga." He sighed to himself, looking at Shampoo's cute face. "Want take break?" There was another sigh, a more relieved one. It was as if he were holding his breath for hours.
"Just for a little."
As Ryoga carefully lifted the massive oar and sat it onto his lap, Shampoo sat down with him in the middle of the shabby raft. "Is hungry? Want food?"
"Hmm..." he hummed to himself, "I can manage."
"But Ryoga," Shampoo slightly whined. "You need to eat."
"I know, Shampoo, but I don't want to waste our food also, the both of us know that I eat a lot more than you."
"Why is afraid?"
"Because Shampoo...Your life is in my hands, and the last thing I'd want to do is kill you if I got too greedy, or if I wasn't paying attention, or—" She held him softly, which made him stop in his anxious tracks.
"Shut up and eat fish."
"Y-yes ma'am." Just in that instant, Shampoo shoved a small piece of fish into the submissive boy's face and he grabbed it, scarfing down on it. Shampoo gave him another, he ate that one quickly too. "Thank you."
"You welcome. No need be perfect, just be Ryoga." They both smiled at each other.
Eventually, night fell pretty quickly.
Shampoo was starting to doze off, while Ryoga was still diligently paddling the raft. The starry sky and moon were the only things lighting up the water, thankfully the beautiful twilight made things easier to see, but it wasn't easy by any means. The once still waters were slightly bouncy, occasionally rocking the raft—it scared Ryoga but it lulled Shampoo. Shampoo didn't want to admit that she was exhausted, but she had a job to do, staying awake and steering Ryoga in the 'right' direction. Realistically, she couldn't tell what the right direction even was, but she knew that as long as she couldn't see the island anymore, they were making good progress.
Shampoo, attempted to stifle a yawn, but it could be heard from halfway across the ocean. She then cleared her throat and sat up straight on the raft, hoping to convince Ryoga that she was awake enough to continue. "Tired?" Ryoga said quietly.
"Shampoo no tired. Just...bored."
"I can't blame you," he continued the paddle. Since being fed the fish, Ryoga had eased up slightly and was more capable of holding a conversation. "Whenever I was doing something like this I'd just think about where I might go tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" She cooed. He nodded his head softly.
"Yeah, like where I might go, if I'll see Ranma again, or Ukyo, or—" He paused abruptly, catching himself from saying Akane, "Or Kasumi." He sighed a small breath of relief. "Usually that keeps me occupied for a while." His grip loosened on the oar slightly, "It also keeps me optimistic." Shampoo looked at him with a concerned glare, "I'm okay, but whenever I get lost, the chances of me dying get pretty high sometimes, y'know? So when I think of what I do tomorrow, I look forward to today ending—if that makes sense."
"Shampoo think she understand." She said, almost as if it were a question. "Well tomorrow, Shampoo want her and Ryoga to find land, get off sea and tiny boat." She yawned softly, "But Shampoo too too sleepy..."
"You can go to sleep Shampoo."
"Aiyah..." she groaned, "But if she fall alseep, Ryoga get lost." He hummed to himself before nodding. With one massive swing, he paddled the boat forward onto the calm waters and it started to slowly drift north. He delicately jammed the paddle into the middle of the raft and unsheathed a bandana from his head. He tied the bandana loosely and it flowed in the wind behind him.
"There, we've got a bit of an indicator of where 'North' is."
"Will this work?"
"I haven't a clue, but I'd rather you go to sleep than be up all night worrying about it."
"But Shampoo will be restless thinking about it!" He put a hand to his chin and shrugged with a dumb smile.
"Then worry about it in your dreams." Shampoo deadpanned and smacked his chest.
"Goodnight stupid."
"Goodnight Shampoo." As Shampoo curled into herself on the raft, Ryoga sat watching the bumblebee-colored bandana fly into the wind, still seemingly going north. He started to yawn too. "Mmm. Maybe I should get a bit of rest too. A few minutes at least." He folded his arms and sat next to Shampoo, slowly drifting into sleep as the couple drifted into the vast sea.
"GAH!" Followed by a few fast pants. She had that dream again. Ukyo drowning her. It was so horrible, but every time it played into her mind she felt so helpless, thinking that she wouldn't even be able to breathe most of the time. Maybe I really should talk to her about that dream? I can't keep having it...I could die in my sleep if I'm not careful.
She put a hand to her face but screamed in terror realizing it wasn't her hand. Not to mention she was soaking wet and grimy.
It was dawn, but both Shampoo and Ryoga especially would be hard-pressed to say 'good morning' to each other. As Shampoo turned around, feeling her tiny paw caress her wet fur, she turned to Ryoga, who was less than pleased. The piglet was extremely frustrated at the kitten, now both stuck at sea as animals.
'Shampoo! You fell off the raft, during your sleep! I had to rescue you before you drifted too far away!' "*Sounds of furious squeals."
'Ryoga, I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened...' "*Sounds of tiny meows."
Them being in their animal forms, of course, presented many problems. While Shampoo's episode was a few hours ago, Ryoga was already beating himself for dozing off. It was for literally only a few minutes, but Shampoo's excessive rocking disrupted the raft causing the boy to awaken. She rolled into the water with such great force and had effectively, plummeted into the water, slowly rising as she started to surface. Ryoga rescued her at the cost of being able to paddle and maneuver the boat. At first, he was relieved to see his fianceé still okay and still breathing, but a few minutes later, Ryoga could feel himself seething.
First thing he tried was the kettle.
The water was now lukewarm and couldn't change him, nor Shampoo. He angrily chucked it off the raft, hearing its loud splashing in the far distance. He couldn't hold the oar, it was way too big for his tiny body and he wasn't able to hold it with his teeth or hooves. He sighed and rested it on the raft. Because of Shampoo's splash, it made ripples, sending the boat in the wrong direction: as indicated by the bandana flowing to the east of him. The only good thing that was still on the raft was their food. It was slightly wet, but at least they still had that, or else they'd really be screwed—as if they weren't already.
Ryoga's temper nearly got the best of him, but seeing the still-damp cat and her soft eyes made him cool off. Only slightly.
The wet animals looked at each other, disappointed and forlorn, while Ryoga is squealing profanities, Shampoo attempting to comfort him, with very little success. As she walked over to him and put her paw on his head, he immediately moved out of the way and turned to face her. 'Not now Shampoo.' He could see her in the corner of his eye attempting to rest her paw on him again, which caused him to hold out one of his hooves. 'Please.' The kitten halted.
Shampoo was normally used to rejection, especially because of Ranma, but this rejection felt...different. With Ranma, he seemed so determined to get away from her, yet still, entertain the idea of them being together. And their game of cat and mouse felt like Ranma's rejection was just a play. A game, in a sense. Playing hard to get, if you will. Battling her affections with her finaceé rivals and Kodachi, she always felt like she had a one-up on everyone, except for Akane. But ever since her defeat and proclamation of being Ryoga's spouse, not once had he turned her away. He didn't have to worry about his affections straying elsewhere. Always loving her, holding her, trying to figure out his emotions, and nearly killing himself just to save her. But now, the tiny hoof that stopped her in her tracks, crushed her heart.
It wasn't a game with him.
And she could feel herself writhing at the sight of the hoof, the hoof that felt like a barrier.
She backed up slightly and curled into herself sadly, while Ryoga put a hoof to his temple, trying to assess the situation. He lowered his hoof slightly, realizing that there wasn't anything to assess. The truth of the matter is that they're both stuck out there. With food, yes, but there's no telling how long it would be till they either washed onto shore or ran into anyone. After a few moments to himself, he sighed again and sat next to Shampoo who softly curled around him with her damp tail.
Another day passed quickly, the two animals still on the whims of fate, taking them on a ride they couldn't control. They did eat some food earlier, Ryoga opting for the crustation, while Shampoo eating some more of the cooked fish. But it was still quiet on the raft, partly because the animals couldn't speak, but also because of the building tension growing between the two. Ryoga was no longer frustrated, having a whole day to mull over everything and be depressed, but as he kept glancing at his feline fianceé, he couldn't be mad at her.
It wasn't REALLY her fault. He started to convince himself. The phrase kept repeating in his mind, but he did eventually start to believe it. Shampoo didn't know she was going to have such a harsh dream, and if she did, it wasn't like she was going to shake the raft to make things harder for them.
However, Shampoo was practically filling her mind with doubts and anxiety, blaming everything on her actions. Ryoga had realized that she was feeling stressed—her fur felt pointed and he could tell she was in distress—so he attempted to comfort her, which worked well enough, but Shampoo was still on edge, but she snapped out of her depressive stupor quickly and pawed Ryoga on the head.
'Ow! Shampoo! You had your claws out that time!' He faced her, but his eyes went wide immediately.
Surfing on the shore, he and Shampoo spied at what looked to be a fishing boat. It was small in size, but there were PEOPLE on there either tending to the machinery of the boat or fishing off the side. The kitten and piglet looked at each other wide-eyed and started yelping as loudly as they could, hoping to draw attention to themselves. It didn't seem to work, as the boat was still coasting miles away.
'Shampoo, look at me.' Even though she didn't understand him, she still glanced over at him.
'Do you have a plan Ryoga?'
'So, what we should do is swim across the water. The boat is coasting and if we make noises closer to the boat, they would HAVE to hear us!' Shampoo was nodding, she didn't exactly understand the assignment, but figured she'd learn the moment she saw Ryoga acting. The piglet stood on the side of the raft on his hind legs, looking as if he were about to do a perfect swan dive. 'Are you ready?'
Shampoo stared at Ryoga sheepishly, but followed the same position. 'Okay, I hope you know what you're doing...'
With that string of mews, Ryoga hopped off the boat, causing Shampoo to follow suit. The boat was still coasting and it seemed like they had plenty of time to make it. With quick pants and gasps, Shampoo was now ahead of Ryoga, presumably because of her larger limbs. Seeing this as an opportunity he held onto her tail with his slick hooves. He wasn't able to maintain a firm grasp, yet still decided to keep trying. Swing, miss! Swing, miss again! After another attempt, it seemed futile, so the piglet decided to swim his stubby limbs, hoping that he'd just be able to catch up. As long as he could see Shampoo's magenta tail, then he wouldn't need to worry about being outpaced.
As Shampoo kept swimming, feeling Ryoga trying to grab onto her tail, she did slow herself slightly for his sake. But it wasn't until she felt a sharp bite onto her tail, she decided to look back. 'Ryoga! Don't bite me like tha—*gasp!' She began to flail slightly as this rather large fish had a tight grasp on her tail. 'It won't get off!' The fish was weighing her down too, it was nearly the size of her. Ryoga saw Shampoo's struggles and decided to help, but he didn't anticipate there to be a fish on her tail.
Using one of his piggy hooves, he slapped the fish violently, causing it to fling off of Shampoo's tail and careen into the water, but that slap proved to be a terrible decision. The fish was seeing black. Black and yellow to be precise. As the sea creature sped to get its revenge on Ryoga, it leaped out of the water and dived onto his head, its sharp teeth making contact with Ryoga's head. He squealed in pain hoping to get the fish off him, but not only couldn't he wriggle him off, but he couldn't Bukisai the fish either, since the fish was living, he couldn't explode him. He could feel some of his blood trailing down his body and he started to feel light-headed. 'S-Shampoo...!' He squealed tiredly.
Shampoo looked behind her again and saw the fish nearly enveloping Ryoga's body. With a hurried meow, she turned around and born her fangs. 'This is no different than the fish I usually deal with. Don't worry Ryoga, I'm not losing you!' Shampoo skated through the water and bite the fish's tail and attempted to fling him away, yet the fish wouldn't budge. She needed. No. HAD to kill it. Taking out her sharp claws, she slashed at the fish's body, its grip slightly loosening on Ryoga. With another swipe, she took out the creature's eye and it had completely released Rygoa from its grasp, causing the injured fish to plop back into the water and Ryoga to gasp for air loudly. Although Ryoga appeared to be relatively okay, Shampoo still had her eyes set on the fish, for nearly killing her husband. Without any hesitation, she bit firmly onto the fish's body and took out a massive chunk of flesh, launching it out of her mouth and seeing it crash into the sea, before laying still, a small pool of red forming around its body.
The fishermen had seen the large commotion of splashes and flailing in the water and thought to check out what had happened. What they didn't expect to find however was a pink cat dragging what looked to be an unconscious piglet by a rag.
Things were calm once the piglet and kitten were on the boat. Shampoo shook herself dry and curled next to Ryoga licking his cheeks softly. He was okay, but slightly light-headed since the fish had bit into his flesh pretty severely. There were about four people on the boat. They were mostly neglecting Ryoga and Shampoo, but it's not like they needed much. One person would occasionally check on them, but besides them, they were effectively invisible.
"Ey Ramon!" The young man turned to his fishing partner, "How are those animals doing?" He looked over his shoulder, not much has changed. The pink cat—something he'd never see in his life—and the ragged piglet were still laying next to each other.
"Why don't you actually do something about them, you're always askin' me man, and it's grating as hell!"
"Sheesh, all I did was ask if they were okay, get off me." As the other young man, picked up the two animals in the back, he started mumbling to himself about how Ramon was being too insensitive. He sat the wet and dirty animals on the table in the cabin and grabbed a blanket that was nearby. "So, you two don't move anywhere." He turned on the sink and set his hand under it for a moment, "You both stink, so I think a bath would be in order." Ryoga was too tired to protest, while Shampoo was fidgeting inside of the blanket. It was less of the fact that she didn't want to change back, but more of the fact that there would be all of these eyes ogling her body...
A few minutes passed.
Hot water, scream, turn the other direction. Hot water, a scream followed by, "Ohh~", and a slightly less eager look in the opposite direction. Both—Shampoo reluctantly, to mention—were handed clothes and soon thanked the man.
"Shampoo, do you think you know what these guys are saying?"
"Shampoo no know, Ryoga. Must be that other language you talk about." Ryoga cleared his throat, attempting to try something.
"I am Japanese. I no speak your language well." He muttered to himself in Japanese for a moment, before continuing, "Mistress and I need to go to Japan."
"Mistress? Aren't you lucky!" The man slapped Ryoga heartily on the back, causing Ryoga to laugh sheepishly, completely unaware of what he said that was funny. "Once I tell the others, we can get you two off the boat. There's an airport not far from here. If you," he pointed at Ryoga, "help us," he pointed back at himself, "with the fishing labor, we can get you tickets for free, and even drive you there."
Ryoga didn't understand his long-winded sentence, but it seemed like if he helped them out, they would more than likely get something in return. "Deal," Ryoga said in Japanese, shaking the man's hand. He was then ushered out of the cabin to do some heavy lifting of fish cargo. Well, it was heavy to them, Ryoga lifted the smell boxes of fish like it was paper.
"Arjo...where did you find this guy...?"
"H-he was the p-pig," He said dumbfoundedly, as Ryoga then carried three boxes with one hand.
After four hours of continuous labor and a short car ride, the couple boarded the plane about an hour ago. Ryoga couldn't help but smile at Shampoo.
Not only had he saved her life, but she did the same for him. He felt overjoyed that they were able to bear this rather ridiculous journey together. Shampoo looked over at the fanged boy and grinned herself. She laxed in her seat, giving a healthy sigh with a small giggle. "We finally leave stupid place!" She nearly yelled from how ecstatic she was.
"I know!" Ryoga stretched comfortably after all of the cargo he hauled. "Man, did I miss Nerima...never have I wanted to go back home so badly!"
"You telling me. Shampoo going take long bath when get home."
"And I'm joining you!" Shampoo whipped her head at the boy that immediately covered his mouth. "I-I mean that, uhh..well."
"You can join me Ryoga, I don't mind." She said in the most sultry voice she could muster, even managing to try and fix her Japanese slightly. The boy was redder than the pig-tailed girl's hair.
"W-well...I guess we have seen each other naked already," Ryoga guffawed stupidly.
"Besides, you now officially airen, you mine." Shampoo gave smile, yet it was less sultry, more loving, warm. It was music to Ryoga's ears and he hugged her gently. "Shampoo love you, Ryoga."
"Ryoga love you too, Shampoo."
Shampoo gave Ryoga a soft kiss on his cheek, immediately making the surrounding area red, making her giggle, and Ryoga sigh with utter contentment.
There will still be another two or three (short) chapters of omake. I've enjoyed all of the reviews and encouragement I've gotten over the course of the several months writing this and I'm glad that a decent amount of you seemed to enjoy it!
I hope you have a great day and thank you for reading Paws and Hooves till the very end. (^-^)b