Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Ranma ½ or Inuyasha. . . though I really wish I did. . .

Author's Note: Thank you all for the comments! They really do make my day! I want to thank all of my lovely betas for help with this chapter. You were all a big help :D I didn't use all of your ideas, but they were all taken into consideration :D

I hope that you won't have to wait so long for chapter 12. Sorry 11 took so long. Blame it on School

Lost Time
Chapter 11 – Separation Anxiety
By: Lori Finnegan

Ranma, Inuyasha, Kagome and Ryoga had been walking for three hours in complete silence. Kirara took the lead and Ranma the rear so that he would be as far away from the firecat as possible. He stared at the back of Ryoga's head and wondered about where they were headed.

Inuyasha had been suspiciously quiet since morning, and Ranma didn't like it. In fact, the whole group seemed somber. Not only was it incredibly quiet, but they seemed to be walking slower, too. Almost depressed, Ranma looked down at his feet as he walked. Had everyone given up on Akane?

"What are you so upset about?"

Ranma jumped, before looking up to see yellow eyes staring at him. He glared. "Maybe if you'd just mind your own business for two seconds, people would feel more like opening up to you!"

Inuyasha stepped backwards as they continued to move along. He didn't even flinch at Ranma's anger. "It was only a question," he said. "Besides, all of your bitching and moping is slowing us down."

"I'll mope if I wanna mope," Ranma threw back.

Inuyasha shrugged. "So what if we didn't get Akane back. At least we know for sure that Naraku has her. Besides, Kagome can sense her shard when we get close. There's no reason to mope."

Ranma looked back at him, but Inuyasha's eyes looked immediately away. Was the guy trying to make him feel better? He couldn't tell...

Before Inuyasha had a second chance to think about it, the yellow eyes reappeared in front of him. "So get a move on, asshole! I'm sick of waiting for you!" And he spun around to take his place back at the front of the line.

"I'm an asshole!?" Ranma exclaimed. "YOU are the biggest bastard I've ever met in my entire life!"

Inuyasha acted like he didn't hear him, Kagome gave him a sorry expression, and Ryoga shook his head. For a moment, Ranma stopped walking and just watched as they went on ahead of him. How long would it take them to notice if he just disappeared? Without thinking a second longer, he slipped off into the woods and lightly padded out of sight and earshot.

Inuyasha wasn't helping him in the least. And what was worse was that he seemed to be more concerned about the stupid shard than he was about Akane. Ranma stomped down on a fallen log and listened to bark crack beneath his feet. "That jerk," he muttered, taking off at a quicker pace through the woods. "I'll find Akane on my own, and then we'll go back through the well without those losers."

Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's sleeve, and pulled him to a stop. "Hey, Inuyasha, it's getting really hot. Do you think we can stop for awhile?"

Inuyasha turned back to look at her, but his eyes went right past her head, landing on... Ryoga? She turned her head and followed his gaze past Ryoga and into the empty forest. "Um... where's Ranma?"

"That moron!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "We should have been watching him. He's as good as dead out there without ME to protect him!"

"Ha!" Ryoga said as he looked at the other two. "If you think that, then you obviously don't know Ranma very well."

Inuyasha turned to glare at him. "Shut up, pig-boy. He's a human, and that's all I need to know."

"He's my rival for a reason," Ryoga went on. "Ranma can take care of himself."

"I hope you're right," Kagome added in.

Ranma stepped out of a clump of trees and looked around. Before him lay a small village. A few girls were talking and laughing amongst themselves while they washed a load of garments. Ranma approached them.

"Hi," he said. "I'm looking for a guy named Naraku. Have you heard of him?"

First, the girls looked him over, giving him strange looks. Then, they shook their heads no.

"Um, thanks," he mumbled before continuing on his way. Maybe he wasn't thinking when he decided to go off on his own. After all, not only did he know nothing about this world, but he also had no idea where he was and no clue where in hell Naraku could be keeping Akane.

By the time he reached the other side of the village, he'd gotten a half dozen confused looks, three threatening glances, and one offer of a place to stay for the night.

Onward he walked, wondering where he would end up and if he would be able to find Akane in time.

A few miles out of the village, he stopped walking abruptly. Something wasn't right. The air was hot and humid, and if he listened really carefully, he could hear the sound of someone breathing to his right. Not taking any chances, he spun to face the stranger.

"Come out from your hiding place," he demanded. "I know you're there."

A man with pointy ears, a tail, and dressed in brown fur stepped out from around the corner of a rock formation. "Don't even think about trying anything," he growled at Ranma. "It is you who is the intruder, not me."

Ranma's body unconsciously went to his fighting stance. He glared at the man between his bangs. "I'm only making my way through this area," he explained. "My fiancé was captured by someone, and I'm trying to get her back."

"Captured?" The man's narrowed eyes disappeared as he approached Ranma, sniffing the air. "Ugh! You reek of that mutt's stench! Don't tell me you've claimed Kagome as your woman, too!"

Ranma straightened up. "My woman? Kagome?" This guy knew Inuyasha and Kagome?

"You heard me."

"No, no, there's no way she's my woman. It's pretty obvious that Inuyasha—" he stopped. Maybe it was a bad idea to talk about Inuyasha and Kagome as an item. This guy seemed to have a thing for her, too. "Really," he started again. "My fiancé's name is Akane. We're from Japa— I mean Kagome's world. Naraku has Akane, and all I'm trying to do is find her and bring her home."

The guy rubbed his chin, looking Ranma over and obviously thinking hard. "Are you one of Naraku's demon in disguise?" he asked Ranma. "Your clothes look suspicious."

"I told you, I'm from Kagome's world!" Ranma repeated. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"Who wants to know?!" Kouga spat back.

"I do! I'm trying to find my fiancé, but I have no idea where I can find Naraku. Can you help me?" When the guy said nothing, Ranma added, "Uh, please?"

He stuck out his hand to Ranma. "My name is Kouga, and I'm the leader of the wolf demons... well, what's left of them, anyway."

Ranma stared at his hand. "Wolf demons?"

"Because of Naraku, almost all of my pack was completely wiped out. It'll be me who kills him."

Ranma took his hand and shook it. "I'm Ranma Saotome," he told him. "But if you want to kill Naraku, you'll have to get to him before me. No one steals my fiancé and gets away with it."

Kouga let go of Ranma's hand and looked at him. "Whatever," he said. "But before we go, you have to tell me what you think of dog breath."

"Oh, you mean, Inuyasha? He's a jerk. Why do you think I left?"

Kouga grinned. "Let's go."

Ranma knew he was fast, but this Kouga guy was unbelievably quick. "Wha-what the hell?" he breathed as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I mean, I want to get to Naraku as fast as you do, but... but..."

Kouga turned his head and looked back at Ranma. "Then hurry it up, human!"

Ranma continued to chase after Kouga until they approached a rocky cliff. Kouga stopped abruptly and held out his arms for Ranma to stop as well. Breathing heavily, Ranma stood behind Kouga and waited.

"What... the... hell..." he said again. "Is... something wrong?"

Kouga put his index finger to his lips, and Ranma closed his mouth. Before he knew it, Kouga had grabbed his sleeve and roughly moved him to the edge of the cliff. Ranma's back connected with the jagged rock, and he groaned. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Kouga had moved beside him.

"Don't move, or they'll see you."

"What?"

"Don't move!" Kouga hissed.

It was at that moment that the sound of flapping wings echoed through the mountains. Ranma looked up just in time to see many giant bird-like demons appear over the top of the cliff.

"I would kill them," Kouga whispered. "But we don't have time right now. It's more important that we beat dog-breath to Naraku."

Ranma raised his eyebrow. This guy really did hate Inuyasha.

They watched as the bird demons made their way through the sky. The last one disappeared over the hill, and Ranma stepped away from the cliff. "Now I've seen some pretty weird things..." he started, "but when Inuyasha told me that I didn't know this world, he was right. There's a lot of crazy shit here."

Kouga's eyes suddenly went wide. 'Don't move,' he mouthed.

Ranma froze. The next thing he knew, he was being carried high up into the air. Sharp talons dug into his back and wind flew into his mouth as he tried to scream. They had just reached the top of the cliff when the talons released him, and he went crashing to the dirt. He scurried up to a standing position and watched as three more bird demons backed him up against a large rock.

"Shikon shards," one of the growled. "Tell me where they are."

"Sh-Shikon shards? I don't have any," he swore.

"Don't lie to me," another bird demanded, his green eyes flashing at Ranma. "My brother said you have them in your legs. My brother never lies."

"You idiot!" the first bird shouted. "Your brother said it was a wolf demon who had the shards. Does he look like a wolf demon to you?"

Four pairs of eyes focused in on Ranma. He pressed his bloody back harder into the jagged side of the rock.

"He's a human!" they concluded.

"Toss him over the side," one of them said. "He's of no use to us."

Before Ranma knew it, he was being pushed to the edge of the cliff. He gave a swift kick into the side of one of the birds and knocked another unconscious by throwing a set of punches its way. The three still standing glared at him.

"Stop," one commanded. "We don't have time to fight this human. Besides, can't you see that the wolf demon is watching us?"

The three birds looked over the edge of the cliff.

"We should hold him captive until the wolf comes to rescue him. Then, we'll take the shards from his legs, and eat both wolf and human."

"Good plan!"

Ranma glared at them. Bird demons were obviously not very bright. He kicked them, one at a time, over the cliff and watched as they fell, and then swooped back up to his level.

"How dare you try and trick us!" one yelled. "Unfortunately, for you, you've underestimated us."

Ranma shook his head. "No, I believe it's you who underestimated me." He crossed his arms over his chest and squeezed his fists tightly. "There's no way I'm letting you jerks beat me before I've found Akane!" he screamed, and then pulled back his hands, his palms facing one another. "Fierce Tiger Ball!"

His bright yellow ki exploded from his hands, growing larger and larger until it soared out over the cliff and exploded right when it hit the bird demons. But the blast from the explosion was a little closer than he thought it would be, and it shook the cliff, crumbling the land beneath his feet and sending him toppling over the edge.

Ranma grabbed onto a rock that stuck out from where his feet had once been and hung on for dear life. Now, if only he could pull himself up.

"Human!" a voice came from below. "You okay? That was some explosion!"

"I'm fine!" Ranma yelled back to Kouga. "But... I'm kinda stuck here!" He cringed when he heard the sound of more flapping wings coming up from behind him.

"Don't worry!" Kouga shouted. "I'll take care of them!"

"Great..." Ranma mumbled as a few small rocks fell from beneath his fingers. "Now what?"

A familiar pair of yellow eyes appeared above him. "Looks like you've got yourself in some trouble."

"Go away!" Ranma told him. "I can handle this on my own." Just as he said it, two fingers fell away from the rock he held onto, and dirt hit him in the nose.

"Oh, really?" Inuyasha grinned as if he had won some sort of battle. "Looks to me like you're about to fall."

Comments to readers:

Thank you, everyone, for reading! I appreciate all of your comments!!

Okay, I don't have time to do individual comments right now, so I'll just answer some of the questions that were posed in them. The reason why the rest of the cast is not in the story is because it would get far too long, and there would be too many characters for me to deal with. I would end up getting confused and discouraged with the story, and that's not a good thing. Ryoga and Kouga might meet girl-type Ranma will encounter Miroku, and Kikyo might be in the story near the end, but she will not have a large role. This story is mainly a Ranma/Akane story (if you couldn't tell, lol) so please don't expect major storylines for all of the other characters! (though there will be some Inu/Kag fluff) I've actually been rethinking my decision to reinsert Ryoga into the story, but it's too late now. He might not reappear in the comic, but I'm not sure yet. Also, I really do appreciate all of your suggestions, (and I love when you guys point out typos and stuff) but I'm the one writing this story, and I already know what I want to take place. Please do not suggest major plot changes and/or additions of characters.

Eeep! Sorry if that sounded harsh. I didn't mean for it to be that way, but this is my story. lol... Please continue to make small suggestions, but anything that's a major plot turn, keep in mind that I already have my plot decided, and I'm not going to change it. (unless you're TnM. lol...) Thank you!!!