Chapter 7.

Ranma was already awake before the sun came up. It wasn't by choice he was up, but rather, by necessity. Traveling with Herb and Konatsu had seemed like a good idea at the time, but Ranma had quickly found out that campsites offered little privacy. While the two were quite well behaved, they were newly weds twice over, and on top of that had raging teenage hormones.

Even the open displays of affection didn't bother him as much as the noise. The two were LOUD. When you go right down to it, it was a wonder they couldn't be heard in Shang Hai. Konatsu was bad enough in either form, but when Herb became a woman... She seemed to forget herself and allowed her ki to slip into her voice, literally causing the ground to tremble from the sound.

That is why Ranma was up. He had to get away from the campsite before the two woke. Since he had the extra time, he usually used it to do chores like gather firewood or catch breakfast. Sometimes he could train; he never knew how long the two would take. By allowing the newlyweds to get a little bit of the urge out of their system, they could usually manage to get in a good days travel. At least until night fall, anyway. Otherwise, the whole day would be shot, because they would be constantly dropping back to steal a kiss here, a cuddle there...

Ranma didn't begrudge them their happiness, but the lack of sleep was starting to get to his nerves. In the week since they had left the Musk Kingdom, they had made surprisingly good time. They would reach the sea in short order, and from there, Japan.

Ranma didn't need keen ears to hear the commotion almost a kilometer away. Seems Herb was the lucky one this morning. Ranma laughed and shook his head. For all the protestation that Herb had made about giving up part of his manhood, he had certainly taken to being a woman quite willingly at times.

The forest grew quite again well after the sun had risen over the horizon. Ranma judged it safe to return. Picking up the bundle of firewood at his feet, Ranma jogged back to the camp. His timing couldn't have been better. The female Herb was sitting on a rock with a goofy expression on her face, while Konatsu, male and still only half dressed, was starting a fire.

"Good morning!" Ranma said with a good deal of false cheer. Konatsu grunted his reply, and Herb still sat with a goofy grin on her face, staring at nothing. She would probably be useless for at least another hour. "You are going to have to tell me what you do to produce these kinds of results sometime, Konatsu." Konatsu blushed and grinned, rubbing the back of his head. His answer was non-committal, but it sounded suspiciously like 'Jusenkyo gave me an unfair advantage.'

Carefully stacking the firewood next to the pit, Ranma crawled into the tent the three shared and rooted around in his backpack. Pulling out a package of food stuffs, he tossed it to Konatsu, who was putting a pot of water onto boil. The one tent issue was a major oversight on their part. The three of them use to go camping together frequently, and had always shared a tent. Of course, that was before Herb and Konatsu got married. No one had thought to bring a separate tent for Ranma.

Breakfast was a simple and silent affair, with each person eating their allotted portion, then going to a nearby stream to wash dishes. Together they struck the tent. Actually, Ranma and Konatsu struck the tent. Herb just sort of stumbled around and bumped into things, goofy grin still plastered on her face.

Herb was finally brought back to earth by a splash of hot water. Now male, Herb blinked a few times, and promptly blushed. He said nothing, but simply packed his bags. Soon, the campsite was clear and they were ready to head out. It was still early enough in the morning that they could make good time.

Ranma pulled out a map and a compass, and did a quick estimate of where they were. The Xi'an was at least one hundred klicks to the east of their current location. Ranma told the pair, and they nodded. They set off in long, ground eating strides. At this rate, they could be there by lunch.

Herb had never been to a real city before, and so Xi'an stunned him, to say the least. Once known as Chang'an, Xian was one of the six ancient capitals of China. Long famous for being the end of the Silk Road, products from all over the world had poured into the city, making one of the wealthiest, sophisticated and most cosmopolitan of all ancient cities, rivaling its contemporaries like Rome and Constantinople. Prior to its days as a mercantile city extraordinaire, it was also the home of Qin Shi Huang Ti, the first emperor to unify China under one rule in 221 B.C and builder of the Great Wall. He was also responsible for the vast terra cotta army unearthed near by in 1974.

Nearly 8000 figures were uncovered, along with various implements of war, farm tools, and other displays of wealth. When Emperor Qin died, he wanted to make sure he brought his army with him to the other side. The trio stopped to sight-see for a bit; they were awed by the complexity and massiveness of the project, and used it as a good time to consult.

Ranma laid out the options. "So, do you want to hope a plane to Japan, a train to Shang Hai, or would you rather hoof it and swim? If you want to do more sight-seeing, I'd recommend hoofing it. Plus, we can turn it into training."

"This airplane you speak of, Ranma. Will it really have us in Japan by this afternoon?" Herb was astounded that such a thing was possible.

"Yeah, sure will, if we can find a flight."

"What do you think, honey?" Herb looked at Konatsu.

Ranma choked back a laugh. No matter how many times he heard it, he couldn't get over the way Herb sounded when he said that. Freed from the constraints of Musk society, Herb turned into a real pansy. What was even funnier, however, was the way in which Konatsu responded. His face would light up, and for an instant all would be right with the world. Ranma sniggered. Herb shot a scowl in his direction. Correction, thought Ranma, a pansy that can rip three centimeter thick steel like it was paper.

In the end, it they decided to walk. There was no particular rush to get anywhere. But first, Ranma wanted to stop by a camping supply store to pick up his own tent.

They didn't push as hard on the journey to the coast, but it still only took a week. Standing on the beach looking out over the water, the three decided to set up camp. Ranma pitched his tent well down the beach, up wind from the two. They gave it no notice. They were used to the arrangement by now. They had been mortally embarrassed when he explained why the first night. Since that time, they had been modulating noise levels a bit.

Ranma joined them for dinner after pitching his tent. "Any ideas about how we cross the water?" He ventured.

"We could always swim, Ranma." Konatsu was currently female and busy setting up the cooking gear.

"We could. But I don't want to if I can avoid it."

Herb shook his head. "I suggest we walk it."

"What do you mean?"

"Let me show you." With that Herb stood, and walked out to the water's edge. With a leap, he rose high into the air. Ranma felt him channel ki to slow his decent, and to both Ranma and Konatsu's surprise, he simple floated on the surface, bobbing up and down.

"How did you do that?" Konatsu forgot the pots, standing to get a better view of Herb.

"Simple, dear. It is a matter of surface tension. If you distribute your weight enough," he gestured to his feet, "the bond between the water molecules will actually support your weight." With a leap he landed lightly on the sand next to Konatsu. "The hard part is learning how to channel ki through your feet, and constantly adjusting it to maintain the balance. Spread your weight too little, and you get wet. Too much, and the surface becomes brittle, and you risk falling through. After a while, you get used to it, and it becomes second nature."

"Why did you never show us this before, Herb?" Ranma asked.

"Because it never occurred to me it would be useful. It is a trick, game we Musk play as children, and not very useful in combat."

"Got anymore tricks and games you might want to divulge?"

"I certainly do, Saotome. Care to master this one first?"

Ranma grinned as Herb showed them the basics of the technique.

=======

A week later they arrived in Kyushu, not far from Nagasaki. The actual 'walk' across had only taken one day, but they stayed on the beach in china for five, practicing and perfecting the technique. They had one day of rest, and then made a mad dash across the waters to Japan. It was sort of like ice skating in a way – Ranma noticed he tended to get dragged with surface currents, or pushed around by the wind.

Even though it didn't take a lot of ki to actually balance on the water, it did take a lot a ki to maintain that balance for the fourteen hours it took to make the crossing. When they finally touched land on Japanese soil, Ranma and Konatsu were ready to collapse, ki reserves completely spent. Herb was doing okay, of course, but even he, with his draconian blood and huge reserves of ki, was tired.

"FOOD."

"Hungry, Ranma?"

"Channeling ki for a long time tends to do that. Shall we go find some of the ranmen that Nagasaki is famous for?" Ranma and Konatsu both nodded eagerly. Herb helped them to their feet, and together the shuffled off in search of food.

The three sat onto of the mountain overlooking Nagasaki, having taken the sky tram to the top to digest their meals. They were looking at the pictures showing the devastation wrought by "Fat Man," the atomic bomb dropped on the city at 11:02 am, August 9th, 1945.

Herb looked out over the city in quite contemplation. Konatsu came up and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"What are you thinking about, Herb?"

"The level of destruction unleashed upon this city."

Ranma turned from the railing to watch them.

"Horrific, isn't it?"

"Yes, and no. I was thinking about it because I am sure I could accomplish the same in one blast, if I was truly angry. When seen in terms of the numbers of lives lost, I have begun to understand Ranma's incessant quest for control."

"You sensed it too, Herb?" Ranma asked in hushed tones.

"I am not even at my full molt yet, and even now I could crush this wipe this city from the face of the earth a second time if I desired it. I am sure you could, too. Even you Konatsu, if you so chose."

Konatsu protested.

"You talents dear may lie in a different area than Ranma's or mine, but you are every bit as powerful as either of us. It begs the question, Ranma: Why do any of us need this much power?"

"I think the answer to that question to that is simple. There is always someone better and stronger, and not everyone has pure intentions. I want to protect those who can't protect themselves."

Conversation died rather quickly after that. The three stayed at the railing for a while, looking out over the city.

====

As they were boarding the tram to return to the city proper, they were stopped by a large Japanese boy with a giant backpack and red umbrella. The boy was obviously very nervous as he asked, "Do you know how to get to Furinkan High School?"

"Where is that?"

"It's in Tokyo, somewhere. I wanted to try and find this girl, Tendo Akane..." The boy blushed.

"Is she your girlfriend?"

The boy laughed nervously, dry washing his hands. "Not yet, anyway. She doesn't really know how I feel about her, but..." he trailed off. "Anyway, do you know where it Furinkan is?"

"This is Nagasaki."

"Oh. Right. So, which way to Tokyo from here?"

After a massive face fault, Ranma, Konatsu, and Herb all pointed east.

"Thank you so much. This way, right?" The boy promptly headed in the opposite direction.

"That guy has a terrible sense of direction." Ranma murmured.

His companions could only nod in disbelief.

=====

"Welcome to Ucchan's Okonomiyaki! What can I get for you all today?" The girl behind the grill was almost a force of nature due to her sunny disposition and attitude. Ranma, Konastu, and Herb had arrived in Osaka only a few hours ago, and had asked for the local specialties. Everyone had recommended this particular Okonomiyaki restaurant. After the first bite, they could see why. It was worth every second of the two hour wait the trio had endured to be seated.

"Holy shit, this is amazing." Ranma exclaimed, as he promptly ordered his fifth okonomiyaki. Herb wasn't far behind, and Konatsu was already ordering a sixth. When asked what variety, he exclaimed, "Doesn't matter. Just pick one."

The three were still eating long after the rush had died and most customers had gone home. The woman behind the grill had a little more time to socialize, and after chatting with her regulars, came over to the group.

"I've never seen anyone eat that many in one sitting before. You've had every one on the menu, and some twice besides. Thirty three in one go is definitely a new store record."

Ranma just grunted, and popped the last of the okonomiyaki in his mouth. Slowly chewing, he enjoyed every last savory sensation before swallowing.

"You're cute. What's your name, sugar?"

Ranma choked. Herb favored him with a grin and hit him on the back, none to gently. Regaining his composure, Ranma told her.

"Ranma? What's your last name?"

"Saotome. Ranma Saotome. Why, do you know the name?"

"Nope, but I like it. Ranma's a sexy name. Mine's Kounji Ukyou."

"I am pleased to meet you, Ms. Kuonji. I must say, you certainly make some of the best food I've ever tasted in my life."

"Please, call me Ucchan. Everyone else does."

"Ucchan, huh? Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"Well..."

The conversation carried on, and Herb and Konatsu even joined in. When Ukyou learned it was their honeymoon, she was ecstatic. She discounted their bill fifteen percent as a present. After a while even Ukyou had to go home, though. She had to kick them out so she could clean. She was disappointed to learn they weren't staying in the area.

Herb and Konatsu were merciless on the walk to the campsite.

"Did you see him making eyes at her the whole time?" Konatsu clucked.

"I WAS NOT!"

"Disgusting. I can't believe she didn't slap him." Herb shook his head.

"Hey, wait just a minute..."

"I mean, they were practically undressing each other in public!" Konatsu followed suit.

"Hey, you take that back!"

"You practically propositioned her back there." Herb only just managed to stifle a chuckle.

"Did not!"

"I think you said 'maybe I could come over some night after you close shop, and you can show me some of your moves.'" Konatsu turned away to hide her smile.

"I WAS TALKING ABOUT HER COOKING!!!!"

"Mm hm.. Right. She just ate that right up, didn't she?"

"Practically squealed, as I recall."

"Had we not been there, she probably would have jumped you on the spot."

"Ranma, I didn't know you had such loose morals."

"GAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Salvation came in a very unlikely form for Ranma.

"Excuse me folks, do you know how to get to Furinkan... Hey, it's you three again!" Ryoga absently rubbed the back of his neck. "I got lost before I could find the school. Do you think you'd be kind enough to show me how to get there again?"

"What's your name?" Ranma asked.

"Oh, Hibiki Ryoga."

"Ryoga, this is Osaka."

"Oh, right. So, how do I get to Furinkan from here?"