Chapter 4: "Week One: Standing on Your Own Two Sea-Legs"
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Ranma 1/2 or any of it's characters. I do, however, own the planet Pluto! Mwhahahaha(no, not really...)
Bolded is Chinese
Thoughts are in Italics
Wow! So many good reviews, I'm so happy! Please continue to submit your opinions on how the story should be, I can't promise I can do everything you want me to do, but I can promise I'll give all ideas and suggestions serious thought. Also, I would like to give credit where credit is due. I got the idea for the elemental schools from an excellent Ranma Fan Fiction called "Dream of the Earthbound" by Aondehafka which can be found on this site, it's also much better than mine so give it a read if you like Ranma fan fictions. Now, on with the chapter!
"This is it? It's a trash heap!" Ryoga said as he gazed at the ship he and Ranma would soon be serving on.
"Beggars can't be choosers. I don't know about you, but I don't have enough money to just toss away on a pleasure cruse. If I did, don't you think I'd have gone to Jusenkyo by now?" Ranma hissed at him.
They had just arrived at the Nerima docks a few hours before the ships' departure. Fortunately, Ryoga had brought his camping with him so they weren't entirely left to fend for themselves. A few fleeting hours of peaceful rest were a nice contrast to the hectic days Ranma had been leading lately. All too soon though, the ringing of Ryoga's alarm clock broke the calm. It signaled the start of their journey and the end of an era in both of their lives. Quickly packing the camping gear, and making sure Ryoga didn't wander off somewhere, Ranma sighed and moved in the direction of the dock where their ship was waiting. In the morning sun, the ship quickly came under Ryoga's scrutiny, who in turn received Ranma's ire.
Ryoga shrugged. "Well, whatever. As long at this thing can get us to China, I guess it doesn't matter what it looks like, even if it is a piece of sh..."
"Whacha callin' me ship, you welp?" A gruff voice came from behind the two martial artists and cut off Ryoga's statement. They both jumped forward and turned to face the man that surprised them. He was old, most-likely in his late 50's. White hair, what little could be seen, was mostly covered by a small, white captain hat. His bear was un-kept and it circled his mouth, meeting his equally-scruffy mustache. An old, tattered coat covered a bright orange sweater. His pants were a faded blue but there was one thing stood out from his waste, he was also wearing a cutlass. However tattered his appearance was, the sword looked like it was serviced with immaculate care. It had a jewels adorning the large hilt and a dragon design covered the length of the thick, sharp blade. No scabbard, it stayed in place held by a tight red sash.
"Well welp? You gonna finish yer observation about my boat?" The man asked out as he shifted a cigar in his mouth.
Ryoga gulped as his eyes ran over the cutlass. "Errr... I was just telling my friend what a fine piece...of art your ship was!" Ryoga always did have trouble lying, it was written all over his face.
Ranma felt some sympathy for his traveling companion but a part of him still wanted to see Ryoga get decked by the old captain, but his conscience won out and he decided to defuse the situation.
"Hey, you're the captain of this ship?" The man shifted his gaze from the flustered Ryoga over to Ranma. "If you are, we're interested in joining the crew until we get to China."
"Aye, you're the whelps that are supposed to help? You kids aren't even worth the hassle, you'd probably fall over dead the first I put some work on yer shoulders." The captain said as he blew a puff of smoke at an infuriated Ryoga.
"Hey old man, we're martial artists! No amount of work can keep us down!" Ryoga, with wounded pride, stared defiantly at the old seaman.
Laughter erupted from the old man as he listened to the lost boy. He pushed past a still-fuming Ryoga and an cautious Ranma, on his way to the ship. "You two need to go home, this isn't a pleasure cruse you know. I doubt yer cut out for this line o' work." He shouted back at the two young men as he walked up the stairs that lead up to the deck of the ship.
"Come on Ryoga! If we can't convince him to let us sail with him, we're both screwed!" Ranma shouts back at Ryoga before he runs after the captain. Ryoga curses to himself as he chases after the pig-tailed boy.
The ship was bustling with activity as Ranma and Ryoga stepped onto the deck. Large crates were being loaded by the deck crane into the large central hold. The deck looked like it hasn't been scrubbed in ages, as the accumulation of salt was considerable. It was a large ship, probably around 200 feet in length and about 80 feet in width.
Man, but this thing is old! The paints chipped everywhere and that crane doesn't look like it's been serviced in awhile. Ranma wandered around the deck, keeping Ryoga on a short leash as they searched for the captain. Eventually they spotted the old man moving smaller boxes from the unlading area of the deck over to a laid out area.
"Hey old man, shouldn't someone other than the captain be doing that?" Ranma asked as he walked over to the old seadog.
"Aye, normally they would, but we be short of hands lately." The man grunted as he lifted a particularly heavy crate. Suddenly the weight strain was totally gone as the box lifted out of his hands. Dumbfounded, the Captain looked under the box where he saw a single hand holding it up. He followed the arm up to a grinning Ranma.
"If that's the case, can you really refuse our help?" He walked over to stack of other boxes and set it down.
The Captain mearly sighed. He scratched the back of his head and looked over at the stack of unloaded crates before turning back to the grinning martial artist. "Fine, but you'll both be on probation for a week, if I see you're not pullin' yer weight, yer off my boat. Understand?"
"All right! Yeah, we can live with that, right Ryoga?" He turned to the lost boy who was in the process of wandering off. Ryoga nodded his head enthusiastically even as Ranma guided him over to the other crates.
"Hey wait. In a week's time the boat will be out at sea. If you don't like our performance, how can we get off the ship?" Ryoga asked as he picked up a large crate.
"Just as I said, you don't pull yer weight yer off my boat, land or no land. Oh, and welcome to the Cerberus." The Captain could only grin at the effect this had on his two new crewmen. He was still chuckling as he told another crewmen to set aside two bunks for them. Yeah, this is gonna be an interesting voyage. The Captain smiled as he watched the last of the cargo being loaded and his new charges fumble around on the deck.
Start of Week One: "Cerberus"
"Oh man, I never thought we were gonna get a break." Ranma complained as he fell into his bunk. Their employer, only known to them as "Captain", had worked them to the bone as soon as the ship left port. Years of neglect left the Cerberus a poor sight indeed, the paint was cracked and chipped, the deck was green with agley, the roof in the Captain's cabin leaked, and every lifeboat needed to be re-painted. It was grueling work that didn't even give the two martial artists time to train during the day.
Ranma shifted in his hammock. They had already been at sea for three days, and he hadn't come any farther in the Fire School. He would read the old scroll at night, but he had yet to try out any of the katas described in it. He was brought out of his reading by the loud snores coming from the bunk below him.
"And that's the other thing." Ranma tipped the snoring boy's hammock over with his hanging leg. "This guy won't let me get concentrate at all!"
Despite the sudden jolt, Ryoga only rolled over on the floor and continued his snoring. Sighing, Ranma hoped out of his hammock and headed out to the deck.
"Well, since I won't get sleep tonight, I might as well train some." It was the middle of the night, the only lights came from the ships bridge and some stay light from the inside of the ship. He headed around to the rear deck as it was the only place large enough to have free movement for the Fire Schools katas. The different moves were a bit odd for Ranma to grasp at first. Having studied the Anything Goes School for over 10 years, the lack of aerial attacks made the kata sets seem off. The school seemed to focus more on chi and control than speed and power. Most of the moves seemed extremely simple and lacked accuracy. To the experienced martial artist, Ranma would look like a beginner that had seen one to many Bruce Lee movies. Ranma was worried, but still continued to work through the katas. He adjusted the style to allow more techniques and flashier moves to try and even out the deficiency he thought they lacked while still keeping the original move set. After about an hour of this, he fell over from exhaustion, for some reason the added moves made him lose his stamina at an accelerated rate.
"Yer missin' the point of the drills you know." Ranma turned suddenly at the intrusion. He saw the Captain of the ship step out from the shadow of the main bridge. He was still smoking a cigar and grinning, but other than that he wore a neutral face.
"Tha point of that school isn't to have complicated hand moves, but to make you focus yer chi. The basic stances of the beginning move sets make yer body focus subconsciously. Adding all of those extra moves will tire you out faster, especially if ya don't have the chi reserves to do 'um." He walked over to where Ranma was sitting on the deck and held out his hand.
"What do you know about it, old man? I'm just trying to make the kata's more complete." Ranma muttered as he was helped up by the Captain. He then took out the scroll and began looking it over again.
"I know more about it than you do, you ungrateful welp. The Fire School is about using yer chi to do damage, not yer fists." He took the scroll from the young man and looked it over.
"See? Right here." The Captain held up the scroll and pointed to several odd symbols beside each kata and technique. "Yer supposed to learn these things in order. You were on step eight before you'd even mastered chi control!"
"Well I didn't know it was in order! I can't read those symbols!" Ranma shouted in his defense. The Captain sighed and slapped his forehead. He read the scroll for a second then rolled it up and shoved it into his pocket. Ranma was about to protest when the Captain held up his hand.
"If ya can't read these symbols, then I don't suppose you can read the words? Just studying the pictures in the scroll huh?" Ranma sheepishly looked away before nodding. "Thought as much. It's in Chinese, that's why. I really don't know how you got a hold of this thing, but if yer gonna learn it, you better learn it right. Since I can read it, I'll hold on to it and tell you yer lessons for each day. We'll start at noon tomorrow and practice until dinner each day for as long as yer on me boat. I'll double yer work before noon and you'll also have to get up earlier, don't think I'll let you slack off! Oh, yer friend can sit in on the lessons too if he wants, he could stand to learn some of this stuff." The Captain headed back over to the stairs that led to the bridge.
"Hey old man, how do you know all this stuff?" Ranma said as he watched the old man leave. He could have sworn he saw a sad look on the older man's face, but just as quick as he thought he saw it, it was gone.
"Once you've been around as long as I have, you pick up some things. Get to sleep though, cuz I'm gonna work you till yer beggin' me to kill you." The loud chuckle erupting from the man was cut short by Ranma.
"Hey, one more thing, old man." The Captain raised an eyebrow at the pig-tailed young man standing before him. "Since you seem to know Chinese...could you teach me how to speak it? I have a feeling I'm gonna have to do a lot of talking when I get to China..." To the old man, it seemed the martial artist was a bit flustered, then something clicked in the old man's mind. He gave Ranma a sly, yet understanding, grin.
"Oh, got yerself a cute little Chinese girl, eh? Want to be able to have some pillow talk in her own language?" The Captain got just the reaction he was pushing for. The red-faced youth stammering and cursing was reward enough for getting the Captains help. As his laugher erupted, he reached into his coat and pulled out an old book. Flipping through it, he pulled out some stray pieces of paper and quickly placed them into his coat. He grinned and tossed the book to the still red young man.
"There, that's an old Japanese-Chinese dictionary. I've added a few notes in the back to make learning it easier. It's not like them ridiculous school books that you buy at a souvenir shop in Hong Kong, it's conversational Chinese. You should be able to carry on a decent conversation by the time you get off the boat in three weeks if you study some each day." He took a minute to look at his watch, it was a little past midnight.
"You, get to sleep. I'll be waking you and yer friend up extra early to work since we'll be training. Don't use too much of yer strength working though, yer gonna need the bulk of it fer your training." The Captain shuffled up the rest of the stairs and disappeared into the door that lead to the helm.
"Pushy old man..." Ranma marched back to his room and slips into his hammock, still flustered by the conversation he had with the old Captain. Pillow talk with Shampoo, what the hell does he know? I just want to learn Chinese for my own benefit. Maybe so I could talk to her easier, but nothing like what Captain was talking about. Just to talk with her there is nothing that could be interpreted as wrong or perverted about that, not at all. Still muttering, he drifted off to sleep, visions of a certain person dancing through his dreams...
Several Hours Later...
"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!" The battle cry of a certain lost boy broke the serene peace of the open ocean.
"You whelp! Calm down, this is just a simple sparring match." The obviously annoyed Captain along with half the crew sat around the deck at midday.
"Oh, right. Guess I just got used to it." Ryoga sheepishly said.
"Eh, it's fine. Gets me in the mood to fight." Ranma said as he dropped into an Anything Goes defense stance.
"Alright you two, here's the rules." The Captain walked out in between the two fighters and looked each of them over, his eyes lingering on Ranma's stance.
"What's that?" The Captain looked confused, but still puffed away on his ever-present cigar.
"What's what?" Ranma asked, blinking at the man.
"That stance yer using, that's not a Fire School stance. Use that move set you were using last night. That's tha rules of my this trainin' session. You can only use combat moves that are in that scroll or any Fire School techniques."
"WHAT! There is no way I can beat Ryoga using just those beginners moves!" Ranma gulped audibly as Ryoga stifled a laugh. The Captain massaged his temple trying to stop an on-coming migraine.
"The purpose of the training ain't about beating Ryoga, it's about gettin' some combat experience usin' those techniques. I fully expect you to get yer arse kicked." At that, stifled laughs drew Ranma's attention away from Ryoga for a moment.
"Annnnnnnnnnnddddd...BEGIN!" Before Ranma could turn back to face the Captain, he was already several feet over his head retreating back to the sidelines in a graceful leap. Stunned by the old man's sudden dexterity, he didn't notice an oncoming Ryoga.
"PAY ATTENTION!" Ranma's head snapped back to face Ryoga just as the latter's fist connected to Ranma's chest. Like a shot, Ranma flew back into a large metal crate, leaving an indention in it's surface before collapsing on his knees.
"Ugggg...lucky shot Ryoga..." Ranma managed to get back up and drop into a Fire School offensive stance. Ryoga, still grinning, shifted to a defensive stance of his own. Ha, like you can deal with me that easily Ryoga. Good thing he doesn't know any of the kata's for the Fire School, he won't know what hit him. He rushed the lost boy and struck out for a hard hit with his right palm. Ryoga took the hit with crossed arms, but failed to black a sharp kick that swept into his side. Grunting, Ryoga dropped one of his arms and grabbed Ranma's leg intending to toss him. In response, Ranma used the 'Burning Armor' technique and wrapped the heated chi around his leg. Flames erupted from Ranma's leg and engulfed Ryoga's hand.
"ACK!" Ryoga released Ranma's leg and leapt back a few feet to give him and his opponent a wide breath. The confident smirk on Ranma's face only added to Ryoga's anger. Mutterings from the crowd and a surprised look from the Captain drew both fighters attention.
"Well, you two whelps aren't too bad. That was some hit Ryoga, I thought for sure that brat would be ko'd." He then turned his gaze towards Ranma. "And you, I didn't think you would know the Burning Armor this soon, what other Fire skills do you know?"
"Ha, you'll see in a minute old man, you ready Ryoga?" Ranma dropped into a different stance and smirked at the lost boy.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't get cocky Ranma! Now that I know you can do that fire trick, I won't fall for it again." Deciding to take the initiative, Ryoga dashes towards Ranma. Jabs were sent flying in quick succession at Ranma who managed to block them. Leaping back and away from his physically stronger opponent, Ranma headed towards the top of a large crate sitting on the deck.
"All right Ryoga, time to end this! I'm gonna show you my last trick, so make sure you get a good look." Ranma's confident look shifted to one of utter concentration. His fists tensed as he held them out from his sides. His battle aura, a usual blue, wavered in it's color to a light red. The chi around his fists flared and started to burn, they were literally on fire.
"BURNING FIST!" Ranma shouted as he rushed a bewildered Ryoga. Ryoga was now facing several fast, flaming punches flying towards his face. While they were not scolding hot, it was enough to make Ryoga cringe as he blocked them. Each time one would slip through is guard a singe would me made in the lost boys cloths. Damn it! I can't keep blocking these punches, they are really starting to hurt! Parrying one last punch, Ryoga again leapt back from the flaming Ranma. Expecting a confident smirk from his opponent, Ryoga was surprised when the same expression of concentration showed itself on Ranma's face. Suddenly, an idea hit him.
"Hey Ranma!" The same concentration was on Ranma's face, but he did look up at his opponent. Ryoga noticed that as Ranma lost some of his concentration, the flames on his hands died down in intensity.
Ha, that's it. I've got you now Ranma. "Ranma, I don't see how you can be so focused today after last night." A confused Ranma blinked at him. "I mean, all night you were calling out Shampoo's name in your sleep. I figured she would be the only thing on your mind, especially after all the things I heard you talking about. Really, you could write a hentai manga from some of that stuff." Totally red, Ranma started to shout out curses at Ryoga and the crew that had just erupted in laughter mixed with whistles and lewd cheers. With all his concentration gone, the 'Burning Fist' completely faded.
"I've got you now Ranma!" Ryoga shouted as he leapt at Ranma. Caught by surprise, Ranma tried a futile attempt at a dodge as Ryoga's knees impacted with his face. Wincing in pain, Ranma staggered and promptly fell over on his back, slipping in and out of consciousness. The last thing he remembered was a ecstatic Ryoga and a snickering crew.
A Few Hours Later...
"Ryoga..." Slowly opening his eyes, Ranma finds himself back in his shared room with Ryoga. Still groggy from being unconscious, he rubs his face, most of it still red from Ryoga's assault.
"I would have had him if only he hadn't distracted me...what the hell?" Something laying on his chest caught his attention. It was a nice drawing of Shampoo and Ranma. She had on her trademark Chinese dress, he was in somewhat nicer clothes. She's glomped onto him, but he's wearing a content grin. Studying the picture, he almost doesn't notice a note taped to the back of it. Still somewhat interested in the picture, he looks the letter over.
"Hey Ranma, hope you like the gift. I had Barry, he's the helmsman, draw it from a picture of all of us back in Nerima. I know you don't have one with just you and Shampoo in it. Call it a peace offering for beating you like that today. If you want dinner, come to the galley cuz we eat at 6:00pm, if you're up before then come help me with the work! From, Ryoga" Ranma blinked, but looked back at the picture of him and Shampoo.
"Who said I wanted anything like that..." He tried to get angry at the lost boy, but only smiled and got out of the hammock, he folded the picture and put it in a hidden pocket on the inside of his shirt so he could keep it close. Not like I want a picture of her near or anything, just hiding it so no one else sees it... He was walking out the door when something else on the letter caught his attention.
"PS, I can't believe you fell for that trick in the middle of a fight! Ha, you really suck when can't use all your cheap tricks, huh?" Crumpling up the letter and cursing to himself, he rushes out to give Ryoga a piece of his mind and help with the work.
The days went on as Ranma and Ryoga worked on the cargo ship, Cerberus. The Captain made sure to work them hard and even harder during the afternoon training sessions. Having gotten better with his concentration, Ranma could hold a 'Burning Fist' for almost an hour before his chi was used up. Even Ryoga managed to get better with his chi control. Having learned of the boys affinity to the earth, the Captain gave him the same scroll Ranma had gotten from Genma, only it was the beginners scroll for the Earth School. Getting the dirt up from the ocean floor using a sifter that was dragged from behind the ship, the rear deck was transformed into a sprawling training area, complete with rocks and obstacles. Ryoga grew just as much as Ranma had, mastering several Earth School katas and skills, however a match hasn't happened since the first day of training.
"Ok whelps, today yer gonna have another practice match. Any skills, just use yer own schools move sets." The Captain made sure to keep his crew entertained, so he had decided to hold weekly matches for his two young charges. They faced each other: Ryoga in an defensive stance and Ranma in a offensive stance.
"Now, lets kick this fight off!" At the drop of the Captain's cutlass, Ranma raced at his opponent fists flaming. Changing direction at the last moment, Ranma hits Ryoga from an angle he wasn't expecting, causing the lost boy to have a weaker defense than normal. From the added training, Ranma could now use his 'Burning Fist' skill just as the skill was intended it to be used: Subconsciously. As soon as his battle aura flared, his hands would blaze. The quick attacks were quickly getting the better of Ryoga who's arms were now smoking from all the blocks.
"Enough of this! Sand Shield!" Stretching his chi into the transplanted ground, Ryoga raises a wall of earth that traps Ranma's fist. Ryoga took advantage of his opponents lack of mobility, and launched a knee into Ranma's gut. Flying upwards, Ranma is snapped back down by his own arm which is still trapped in the ground.
"Well Ranma, looks like you're stuck. Care to submit?" Ryoga asks in a content tone.
Picking himself up, Ranma starts to pull at his hand's earthy prison. "Not on your life Ryoga!"
"Heh, whatever you say. Don't tell me later that I didn't try to keep you conscious this time though." Ryoga pumps more of his chi into the ground. The result is that the sand wall slowly starts to engulf Ranma's arm. Keeping himself from panic, Ranma focuses his own chi into his arm, un-noticed by Ryoga as he bows to the crews applause.
"I'll just smother you with this sand. Don't worry though, I'll let you out before you suffocate." Ryoga chuckled to himself. For him, it had been a very good trip so far. Already beat Ranma once, met a lot of new people, even picked up a new fighting style. Suddenly a bright glow broke him out of his self musing. Ranma flared his battle aura, focusing everything he had into the parts of his body covered in sand. The resulting pressure caused the wall to shatter and pieces of it flew into the crowd. Now standing in front of Ryoga was a very annoyed, and confident, Ranma.
"Nice try Ryoga, too bad I can use chi to build up pressure in the air around me. Now, lets try out a new technique I made up, huh?" Ryoga took a step back, he was strained from putting so much chi into his Sand Shield, but he still dropped into a defensive stance, weary of Ranma's boasting.
"Flaming Tenshin Amaguirken!" Ryoga cringed. He had been on the receiving end of many a Tenshin Amaguirken before, so he knew what to expect. Even worse what that Ranma could apparently use it with the 'Burning Fist', effectively doubling it's damage potential.
Before Ranma could begin his assault, the ship lurched beneath the fighters. The crew, how had until now been watching the fight, immediately knew something was very wrong. They all ran to their various stations as the Captain called the match.
"No time fer fighting! Get to the forward deck and see what the hell we hit!" He shouted to the two confused martial artists as he headed up to the forward deck, not waiting for the two of them.
"Come on Ryoga!" Ranma shouted as he ran to follow the Captain. Grumbling, Ryoga ran after him. The sight that awaited them left both of their mouths gaping open.
"CAPTAIN!" Both of them shouted in unison. The Captain, cutlass drawn, was facing down what looked like a giant blue dragon. It was easily the length of the ship, the main of silver hair that ran down half it's back seemed to bristle at the sight of the old captain. It's fangs hanging over it's closed mouth. It surprised them further when it began to speak to the Captain.
"Brushhhhhhhh. We meet again. I've told you time and time again to not sail through my part of the ocean, now leave." The creature hissed. It was obviously agitated.
"Ha, since when have I ever listened to an overgrown earthworm? I have a bit of advice for ya Faustosen, let me ship go and you get to live for a bit longer." The Captain yelled back. He spit his cigar out and raised his sword, pushing his aura out in a threatening manor. If the dragon was scared, it didn't' show on his reptilian face, it actually seemed to be smiling.
"Today Brush, I think I have the advantage." Faustosen said as it shifted in the water. Slowly it's tail edged up the side of the ship, just below the guardrail out of the combatants view. It hissed loudly and opened it's mouth, catching the attention of all those present. Suddenly, it's tail swung in behind the Captain and knocked him with force into its waiting mouth. Gulping, the creature licked it's lips with it's forked tongue.
"That'ssssss one lesssss distraction, now for two more appetizers..." It's gaze shifted to a shocked Ranma and Ryoga. Letting out a low chuckle, it lunged at the two young martial artists.
"What...the...HELL?" Was all that could be heard over the crash of the waves as Faustosen shifted it's body for the lunge...
Meanwhile, on the "Hong Kong Maru"
"Well child, this is it." The door to a cabin swung open and a short old woman on a cane hopped inside followed by a young purple-haired girl. The young girl was carrying several travel bags and was looking quite exasperated.
"You could at least help me carry your bags!" Shampoo whined. The boat Cologne and Shampoo had taken was one of the more luxurious passenger liners available. The room had a spacious lounge with three doors leading off of it. One would lead to the small kitchen area, the other two were the double bedrooms. Shampoo dragged the bulk of the luggage to Cologne's room before dropping the bag with a loud crash.
"Be careful with those bags child! They have your training equipment in them." Cologne hissed. She then hopped into the bedroom and began to take out certain things from the bags. Some of the things caught Shampoo's interest, a large pot in particular was very interesting. Before she could reach out and take it, Cologne lightly swatted her hand with her cane.
"Don't touch. You'll get to mess around with these things when we start your training later today." Cologne turned away from Shampoo as a grin crept over her face. It's good that Shampoo is so interested in training again. She's gotten complacent ever since her only rivals have been Okonomiyaki chefs and part-time martial artists.
"Great-grandmother, why aren't you speaking in Mandarin?" Shampoo noticed that ever since they'd left, the Elder Amazon had spoken entirely in Japanese.
"Because child, you've gotten somewhat proficient in using Japanese and I don't want you to forget it. Just because you've had a bad experience with one person doesn't mean that you should shut out his entire country." Cologne felt bad at bringing up the incident with Ranma, but she also knew that Shampoo had to get over it eventually. I also want her to keep up with the language in case that boy comes to his senses...
Shampoo visibly winced when Cologne mentioned Ranma. She had almost forgotten her sadness for a moment on the ship. It still hurt, but she managed to shake off her depression long enough to turn away from the Elder. She absentmindedly ran her hand over the scar on her face, recalling several bad memories. Finally, she chocked out an response.
"Shampoo...sorry great-grandmother. I try to get better with my Japanese." Still turned away from Cologne, Shampoo started to walk out of the door. "I go look around ship, start training later."
Cologne frowned as she watched the younger Amazon walk out the door. Foolish child. She can't forget him no matter how long she runs from the problem. I only hope I'm right about this, if I'm not I'll only drag up horrible memories. Cologne sighed and continued un-packing. The boy has a lot of maturing to do before I can expect anything of him though, I figure I'll have at least a year before he comes after her. I know she hates him now, so I won't mention him again for a few months, give her a nice cool down period... Laying out plans in her mind, Cologne smirks again and pulls out several training devices she planed on using to train Shampoo in the Water School.
Mousse was pacing the deck of the ship, with a huge grin on his face. His plan had gone off without a hitch and anyone that could implicate him was still in Japan. He did feel some guilt at seeing Shampoo with her scar, but he mearly calked it up as collateral damage, a thing that was necessary to rid her of that vile Satome. He walked over to the window in his cabin and looked out at the ocean. Soon he'd be back in Joketsuzoku where he could finally officially challenge Shampoo now that Ranma was out of the picture.
All I have to do is beat her! Just once, that's it. I don't want to hurt her, but she still can't see that I'm the one for her! One time, then no more pain for us ever. As he slipped into his own personal fantasy he suddenly sobered up to one fact: He couldn't beat Shampoo in a fight. He had tried before she even went to Japan, but he couldn't do it. He scrunched up his face at this thought. If he couldn't beat her, then she'd never marry him.
"I wonder what that new training is that Cologne's giving her? The gap can only get wider now..." Mousse mused before heading off to the ships dojo. Mousse had to hand it to the elder Amazon, she really could pick a decent boat. It had a full gym with spa. The dojo area was large as well, at least five times the size of the Tendo's dojo. He dropped into a combat stance and ran though some basic katas, steeling himself so he could go all-out against Shampoo when he finally faced her again...
Wandering around the ship, Shampoo finds herself on the lavish deck of the ship. She was getting stares from some of the other male passengers on the ship. Some typical lust, others shock. The one's who thought she was cute had a rude awakening when they saw the other side of her face. Ha, who would want me with this scar? I probably couldn't even get Mousse to look at me now. She imagined the rest of her life: Sure, she would probably take over for Cologne in seventy or so years, but what of the life she had wanted? She had never thought about a life after Ranma before, her previous 'can't-stop-me' attitude hadn't allowed for it before she lost him. She arched her back and leaned down on the railing of the ship, her head resting on her folded arms.
How did things get so screwed up? It's all your fault Ranma! If only you would have made a decision before I completely fell in love with you... Her inner monolog was cut short by a low rumbling in her stomach. She half-smiled and decided to head to the ship's galley. Even though it was Chinese passenger liner, it served food from all over the world. Shampoo looked over the selection she had. All of the foods seemed to be meticulously prepared but nothing struck the purple-haired girls fancy. Suddenly, a certain food item struck her.
"Shampoo hasn't had one of those since I was in Nerima. Maybe for old-times sake." She looked around for the server. They weren't at their station, and such lax service was not to the Amazon's taste. Seeing a 'ring for service' bell, Shampoo gave it a few aggravated taps.
"All right! Hold your horses, I'm comin'." A woman shouted from somewhere in the back of the kitchen. Shampoo could have sworn she had heard the voice before, but before she was able to place a face with it, the woman came from the kitchen. For a moment they could only stare and blink at each other. Shampoo finally recovered enough to say something, although it had taken a full minute for her brain to register.
"Y...you!" was all the stunned Amazon managed to stutter out.
"What the hell! Why are you here Shampoo!" People started to turn in their seats to watch the two loud women. Ignoring or not noticing them, Shampoo did an audible gulp.
"Uh...nice to see you...Ukyo..."
Hurray for cliff-hangers! Yes, the chapter could have ended better, but the next three are really just one big one. I hope you guys liked it! Don't forget to review and tell me what kinda job I'm doing. Thanks for reading too!