Ranma was trying busy trying to save breakfast from being inhaled by her father when Nabiki burst angrily into the room. When he saw the look of pure fury on her face, Ranma forgot about the food and took a good step away from her. The look was far worse than any akane had ever given him, and she had held the record for it. He noticed that even his father backed away from her, leaving the food untouched. That was when Ranma knew he was dead. If someone could intimidate his father enough that he would forget about a table set with food for any amount of time, regardless of how small, it meant that whatever action was going to be taken against him it was really going to hurt a lot!"
Focusing her already murderous glare directly at him and yelled. "Would either of you like to know why no one here has ever heard of Tokyo?"
Ranma nodded his head, and absently noticed his father was doing the same. "Good! I'll tell you why! "IT'S BECAUSE TOKYO DOESN'T EXIST YET!!! Somehow or another you got us sent back in time to the feudal age!!"
Ranma was now feeling confused as was well as scared. "What? How? Huh? How can you tell?"
"I said somehow you got us all sent back in time; how you did it, I have no idea. Look out that window. Kuno doesn't even dress like that! Do you remember all the stars we saw last night? When was the last time you can remember seeing that many stars since you came to live at the dojo? Haven't you noticed there's no electricity, no pavement, no phones, and no beds? For goodness sake's these people haven't even heard of Tokyo!"
Seeing they're expression didn't change, she scowled at them and left the room. She was upset and those two fools were only making her angrier. She had too many questions, and not enough answers! How did she get into the past? How on earth were they supposed to get back? Was it even possible to go back?
The thought of having to live in the past for the rest of her life didn't agree well with her. Worse yet, how would she survive? Women where little more than commodities and baby machines to those people. There was NO WAY she was going to play the meek obedient house wife whose purpose in life was to please her husband and produce him heirs. Hell's seventh ice age would come and go before she ever followed "Three Obediences1." Worse yet, an unwed woman was considered even lower by society.
As little as the idea of staying with the Saotome's appealed to her, the alternative was even worse. At least they knew better than that. "Well Ranma does, Genma on the other hand might try to switch the engagement from Akane to me if he thinks there's no way to get back." That thought caused a shiver to run down her back. There was just no way she'd ever marry that boy. Besides, it was obvious he liked Akane. Despite all his faults, and the things everyone said about him, Nabiki had to admit that Ranma was one of the most honorable and loyal person she had ever met. No small feat considering Genma, who was the exact opposite, was the sole person to raise him. How he turned out as good as he did with Genma as his only parent was one of the great questions of the universe.
Still, the main question plaguing her mind was. "How do we get back home?" It could perhaps be easier to answer the question if she knew how they had gotten there in the first place. But the answer to that seemed even more elusive than the answer of how to get back home. Perhaps someone of this age might know enough of magic, or perhaps even time travel, to help them find a way to return home.
That last thought made her stop. She couldn't believe what she had just thought. One year ago, she used to believe that magic was only for the gullible, and that time travel for those into science fiction. But just seconds ago she had thought about them as if it were a common place fact. Of course that was in no small part thanks to Ranma. It's hard to not believe in magic when your two house guests turn into a girl and a panda when splashed with cold water.
Since meeting Ranma and his "friends" she had learned to keep an open mind to things she used to think were impossible. For all she knew she might meet an alien, travel to an alternate dimension, and watch Ranma fighting a demon. With that boy around, anything was possible, including a way home. Resigning herself to the inevitable truth of her current dilemma, like it or not she was stuck with Ranma and Genma.
When she returned to the inn, she found Ranma still in there looking somewhat down. When he noticed her, he hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry about this. I didn't mean to get you involved in any of this. Shoot, I don't even want to be involved in whatever it is that's going on. I don't know how, but somehow or another I'll find a way to get us home. I mean if we got here, there's got to be a way to get us back right?"
"I'm not really sure, but let's hope so. Anyway, where did the panda go?"
"Pops said he was gonna get some food and supplies for the road. Did you come up with a plan?" Though Ranma thought it he was just chickening away from facing Nabiki in passioned rage mode.
Nabiki sighed. "Not yet, but perhaps someone around here might know enough about magic to help get us back to our time."
"To bad the old ghoul isn't here, I bet she'd know someway to get us back."
Nabiki's eyes widened. "Ranma that's a great idea! If we find the amazons they maybe able to find a way to get us back home."
"Ya, but how do we even know if the old ghoul is even here. Besides even if we did find her, she'd probably only do it if I promised to marry Shampoo."
Nabiki slapped her head in frustration. "I wasn't talking about Cologne or Shampoo. I mean the amazon tribe in china. They're probably around. You know how cologne is always bragging about their three thousand year-old customs and traditions. I'm not exactly sure how far back in time we are, but if the amazons are around, then they're our best help getting out of here."
"But how are we going to get them to help us? I mean sure the old ghoul has helped us out before, but only because she wants me to marry Shampoo. There's no way a bunch of amazons we don't even know are going to help. And I wont fight any of them either. The last thing I need is another old ghoul and shampoo chasing me around the past."
"I wasn't even thinking about that. My plan was we go there, tell them we're from the future. Then you tell them you're engaged to shampoo, and show them some of their secret techniques as proof. Then once they believe us, we can have them send us back home."
Ranma gave her an apprehensive look. "I guess that'll work. Just as long as I don't get yet another fiancee."
"Don't worry about it, as long as you don't beat any of them in a fight you'll be perfectly ok. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going for another walk to try and clear my head."
It wasn't until several hours later that Nabiki came back. A fight quickly broke out between them about the plan. Genma reluctantly agreed to it in the end, after having to go through both Ranma's and Nabiki's methods of convincing.
Having settled the matter, they began eating. Nabiki was surprised at seeing how much food the Saotome's were eating. She had certainly grown used to their eating habits in the time they lived at her house, but they had been eating even more that what was considered normal for them.
As she thought about it further, she realized that they were about to head off on a journey to the east in hopes of reaching china. Without the use of any modern technology, the trip would be a very long one; she was also sure that Genma would end up making it even longer by insisting on training Ranma along the way. She decided she would have an extra long breakfast in the morning before they left, since there really wasn't much left of all the food Genma had bought for the night. She just hoped Genma didn't suddenly decide to leave early; she really didn't want to travel half asleep. Saying goodnight to the Saotome's, she went to her futon and once again tried not to get some sleep.
******
About an hour before sunrise, Genma shook Ranma to wake him up. "Boy, get up. It's time to go!" Not getting any response from his son, he threw a bucket of ice cold water at him.
Genma wasn't sure if it was the water or the bucket that woke him up, but needless to say Ranma was now wide awake and very upset. "Oh great pop! Whatcha do that for?" She yelled as loud as she could without worrying about waking up Nabiki.
"Hurry up. It's time to go. We have to get out of here before the innkeeper wakes up. I told him we would be leaving today, so he's bound to come looking for his money."
Ranma groaned. "I should have known you'd do something like this."
"Ranma you wound your father's heart. How can you say something so awful about your father? Besides it's not my fault! I had wanted to stay in the village longer, perhaps a month or two, like we used to. But you and the girl wanted to rush off to china. You know how bad that girl is when she wants something done. She's just like your mother! Once her mind is made up that is the way it has to be, or there'll be hell to pay. Now if YOU want to wake her up and convince her to stay until I can earn enough money to pay for the inn and the food for the trip, then be my guest."
Ranma gulped as she looked at the girl's sleeping form. Other than the thought of being stuck as a girl and certain small four legged animals, there was no one she feared more than Nabiki. If she was in a good mood, Nabiki would pester her for the fun of it. But if she was in a bad mood, breathing the wrong way around her could cause Nabiki to make her life hell. Worst of all she gets very mad really quickly when things don't go her way.
Although Nabiki nearly always confused her, Ranma knew being woken up early in the morning to discuss a possible change in her plan, was not something Nabiki would take too kindly. In fact just being woken up early, was enough grounds for her to torment you. Ranma sighed and cursed her father. She didn't know how or even why, but she knew that all ths was her father's fault. Even if his part was minor, which it rarely was, Genma was always involved in every bad thing that happened to him.
"Well?" He said impatiently. "Wake her up. We have to hurry."
"Me? Why should I have to do it?" He asked angrily.
"Because you were the one, who agreed with her to leave in the morning."
Ranma sighed and went to wake up Nabiki. After a minute of gently shaking her and calling her name, she finally opened one eye to see who was disturbing her sleep and slurred. "Leabe me alome Saotome, I'm seeping."
"Come on Nabiki, it's checkout time. If we don't go now, we'll have to stay here for at least a few more weeks."
After much effort and work, she finally sat up. With blurry eyes looked out the windows and promptly slumped forward onto Ranma. Genma seeing this began laughing. "It looks like you get to carry her! Now hurry up! We've wasted too much time already. We're going to be traveling all day and hopefully make some distance from here, incase they come looking for us."
Ranma growled as she picked up Nabiki and her stuff. So far she was NOT enjoying this little trip through time. With her rotten luck she'd likely get her cursed locked or have some kinda cat follow her around! With another sigh, she took off after her father. As they made their escape, Ranma glared at her father. Not only had he not given her enough time to heat some water, but she also had to carry just about everything they and including the sleeping form of Nabiki and her stuff!
They had spent all the money the hunters had left behind when Genma scared them away in his panda form on food, clothes, and equipment, but it hadn't been enough for the three of them. Ranma and Nabiki ended selling the cloths they had come with to the villagers, who were very taken by it and were willing to pay a good deal of money for it. The money from the cloths was then used to buy more food and water, and saved the rest for buying more supplies on the road.
They traveled at a somewhat brisk pace for a few hours until Nabiki finally woke up. They decided to take a small break, for which Ranma was all too happy to take, since that meant putting Nabiki down. After just a few minutes of resting, they began walking again, albeit at a slower pace since Nabiki wouldn't be able to keep up at the pace they had been going.
By the time noon came, they were forced to stop again. Nabiki who was not used to a life on the road was worn out. Genma of course was not very outwardly happy about it. He knew traveling with a girl was nothing but headache. Whispering to Ranma he said. "We need to keep going. If she getting this tired and hungry now, how on earth does she expect to get to western china?"
"Look I said I'm tired and hungry right now. There's no way I'll be able to go any further without fainting!" She said angrily, having heard Genma's whisper.
"You were the one who insisted on leaving today, so we can get back home as quickly as soon as possible." He said angrily back to her. "How do you expect to ever get there if we have to stop every few hours because you're too tired?"
Ranma threw her bag at him to keep him from continuing. "Ah shut up pop! It's not like it's her fault, she's just a girl! Besides she ain't used to traveling like us. Let's just take a small break while she eats." Without waiting for a response Ranma rushed her father and started a Saotome style sparring match.
Nabiki was grateful to Ranma for sticking up for her, even if the idiot had insulted her. But she quietly ate her late brunch as she watched them spar. —Most people would sit and rest during a break, but not those two. Only they would begin sparing after hours of intense traveling. — The sparring match ended just a little bit after she had finished eating, with Genma flying into a tree and sliding down headfirst.
Not bothering to give her father a second glance, Ranma walked by Nabiki, filled the small kettle with water, and put it on the fire. "Stupid old man." She muttered to herself as she sat across from Nabiki. After the kettle had reached the desired heat, she reached grabbed the kettle and poured it on herself to restore her proper sex. "Ahh that feels so much better. So you ready to walk for another three hours or so until we're ready to stop?"
Nabiki gave him an incredulous look. "No! Not really. I need time to rest, so I can keep walking. You may not believe this, but normal people can't hike across the country like you and not get tired. Especially not in these shoes!" Ranma moved next to her and crouched down. "Huh? What are you doing Ranma?"
"Get on." Said Ranma. "Unless you wanna stay here and listen to pop complain all day. This way we can keep going, and you can rest until you feel like you can walk again. Not to mention it'll shut pop up for a while."
Nabiki looked at Ranma, and then to the elder Saotome, who was now stretching and already complaining about his ungrateful son. As much as she didn't like the idea of getting a piggy back ride from Ranma, she decided it was better than listening to anymore of Genma's complaints. In one day, she already had enough to last her a lifetime. — Besides the faster we get to china, the quicker we can get home. — "Ok Ranma, I give. Let's just get this over with."
"Sheesh, it's not that big a deal. Your acting like your gonna get sealed with a Jusenkyou curse just cuz you touched me."
Climbing on his back she said. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that anything is possible if you're around. "
Ranma wasn't quite sure if he should take that as a compliment or an insult. Once again Nabiki proved to be a total mystery to him. Not wanting to dwell on it anymore, he picked up his packs and turned to his father. "Come on, pops! Let's go, or are you getting too old?" With a derisive sniff, Genma picked up his pack and began following his son.
Notes:
1. The three obediances is a buddhist teaching that became popular in japan after the 15th century.
"After the 15th century, the teachings of the 'Three Obediences' reigned. "A woman has no way of independence through life. When she is young, she obeys her father; when she is married, she obeys her husband; when she is widowed, she obeys her son." ()
Yes this is going to be an Inuyasha crossover, but not quite yet. Give me a few chapters to get things going. Sorry about the delay, I had major writers block recently. I was intending to come out with chaos quest 12 before this, I thought I'd let those of you who still check my site every so often to see if everything is new.