Disclaimer: I still don't own Ranma1/2.
Summery: After the Mousse incident, Ryouga's trying to get away from everything so he can find out why he's suddenly so distracted around Shampoo. Unknown to him, Shampoo's tracking along, intent on paying back the honor debt she owes him.
[Sign]
(Thoughts)
*SOUNDS*
++++++++++Flashback++++++++++
Chinese
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Unlikely Couple
Part VI
Camping out, Hibiki style
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Shampoo cursed for the tenth time in an hour. She had once again lost track of the lost boy, and when dealing with someone like Ryouga, losing track of him was a major problem. Looking around the forest area she found herself in, she began to draw on years of Amazon experience in dealing with situations like these. You can't get away from me pig-boy. My honor will be cleaned of your debt. Nearly glowing with resolve, a small part of Shampoo briefly wondered why she was so intent on getting away from Ryouga.
True he had protected her from Mousse, and even helped her when no one should even had looked at her. She was an outcast, a dishonor to her village. She found it hard to believe that she had gotten help at that time, but to get it from someone she had barely ever known was even harder to consider. Pig-boy… Err, Ryouga had always just been a pawn to her, someone to use in the conquest of Ranma, so why had he helped her?
Shampoo stopped for a second to wipe away some sweat from her forehead, and looked around again. Where in the world was she, and how in the hell had she gotten there? She had been following Ryouga around when suddenly the city area had turned into a farming region and finally she had found herself in this forest. Now she had lost track of the one person who could get her out of here.
Pushing a low hanging branch away, the Chinese girl continued to track through wilderness. It was almost too much for her, was this how life was to the lost boy? Lost in the middle of nowhere, no idea how he had gotten there, and much less a hint on the way out of here. If this was what Ryouga went through in all of his travels, she could understand why he hated it.
*Snort*
Shampoo stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly, her head turned around to stare at the thing behind her. Large and covered with thick brown fur, a huge boar stared at her with its beady eyes. Turning fully around, Shampoo took in the size and weight of this thing and slowly gulped. From the looks of it, it could overpower a small car. But why was it after her? Didn't stuff like this only happen to Ryouga?
Shampoo mumbled another curse as she stepped back. She tried to keep the boar in the center of her vision all the time, following one of the ground rules of dealing with angry animals. Across from her, the boar lowered its head and scarped up a fair sized chuck of dirt from the ground with its front hoof. Then it charged the purple haired girl with a loud whine.
*****************
Ryouga on the other hand was facing another more difficult problem at the time. Looking down at the ground before him, Ryouga began to wonder just who of his ancestors he should be thanking for this wonderful way of life. If he could just get a nice long talk with him or her, he wouldn't be this angry. But people do tend to get angry when they're cold, hungry, and miserable, and now he could add another thing to his list of things to hate life for. He had been able to handle it before, the loneliness, but did he have to wish for either Akane or Shampoo to be there? What was it with the purple haired girl that she took up so much of his thoughts lately?
Sure, she was pretty, so was Akane. But why was this Amazon starting to dominate his most inner and secret thoughts, a place that had only been reserved to his first crush, Akane? And what about Akane? Wasn't she the one he endured this hell for, his only reason to go on, the only ray of light, the only hint of spring in his endless ice age?
Stopping in his tracks, Ryouga dimly noted that he was once again on the edge of a cliff. Well he did find himself on them plenty of times, and every single time they broke down under him, but not this time. Ryouga stopped his mental journey as he saw the sun set in the distant mountain range. A life spent outside in the wild had given him a valuable insight in camping, and from the looks of it, he was in a mountain range. He mentally noted to himself that while he wasn't that high up in the mountains, the weather could still change rather fast, plus, it wasn't very safe to run around a place like this in the dark. Ryouga began to set up camp in the same fashion that he had ever since he had been a little kid. Dropping his backpack down onto the ground, Ryouga sat down in cross-legged position and began to pull out his camping equipment.
*****************
It stood completely still for a few seconds. Then, to a sound like a falling tree, the boar fell over onto its side, sending up a large cloud of dust and dirt. Standing over it, Shampoo cracked her knuckles. While the boar's attack had prevented her from finding that stupid stubborn Lost Boy's tracks, it also cost her precious time. It had helped her to get rid of some of her frustrations; unfortunately it had cost her her favorite pair of Bonboris. Picking up her backpack, after repacking the remains of her Bonboris, she once again set out to find Ryouga.
Moving away from the battleground, Shampoo took in the surrounds. If there was one thing she had learned, it was how to follow a trail. But the lost boy, however, was putting extra pressure on those skills. A half hour of checking every tree, stone, and speck of dirt on the game trail, rewarded Shampoo with the footstep of a boy, leading into the more open parts of the forest. "Shampoo find you lost boy, no have debt forever."
Jumping from tree to tree, Shampoo followed the more and more clearer signs of Ryouga walking through the forest; a shattered stone, a damaged tree and the rare, beaten animal lying dazed on the ground from time to time. Either the lost boy was in a bad mood, or he was thinking about Ranma or Akane.
The fallen leaves crunched under feet as Shampoo stepped around a fallen tree. Was it even wise to go near the lost boy when he was in this kind of mood? Plus, it was getting rather dark out here, and she had no desire to go running through the forest without light. Sure, she was a martial artist, but that didn't mean she could see in the dark. Turning her eyes downward, Shampoo scanned the ground for roots or other things that snag her foot and send her for a tumble in the dirt. Looking up at last to make sure she was still walking in the right direction, Shampoo blinked. Way up there, in the distance, a lone yellow tent stood out among the rest of the forest. Well, given the darkness of the forest, the only thing she could see from her place was the part of the tent illuminated by the flickering light of a fire. Increasing her pace, Shampoo finally broke into the clearing. Landing on the ground as silently as a feather falling to the ground, and with the agility of a cat, Shampoo scanned the place.
A single pot with hot water bubbled over a fire in the center of the clearing, and off to the side was the signs of a small practice area. But missing from it all was a certain lost boy. Dropping her backpack to the ground, Shampoo stepped closer to the tent, trying to determine if Ryouga was inside it. Pulling back on the tent opening, Shampoo blinked as she spotted the backpack casually leaned up against the side of the tent, and off to the side, rolled up, was the lost boy's sleeping bag. But still with no signs of Ryouga, Shampoo backed out of the tent and chewed on her finger. Was it really possible for the lost boy to forget where his tent was? Did he really have that rotten a sense of direction?
As Shampoo sat down on the log next to the tent, she had a sad look on her face. She really didn't want to face the fact that maybe she had walked all the way out here into the middle of no where, only to lose every chance of ever paying him back for his help. Looking down on the ground and tracing a pattern with her foot, her thoughts wandered around in a circle, always coming back to the same two things. Should she stay with the tent, in the hopes that Ryouga would make it back, or should she try her luck, and go out on a search for the lost boy? Sitting there, lost in her thoughts, she suddenly got the feeling that someone was watching her. Turning around, she locked eyes with a certain lost boy in surprise, and by the looks of it, he was just as surprised at seeing her.
*****************
Ryouga nearly cursed as he came close to snapping the line in his hand. Holding the bucket under the other arm, he cast a quick look down, and spotted the thick red colored thread on the ground. Rolling it up, Ryouga slowly followed it back to his camp, occasionally shooting a look down at the water in the bucket. It wouldn't do to become P-chan now, with all of his thermos empty. It would mean a long and very dangerous track down the mountainside to find a hot spring.
Moving around a tree, Ryouga looked up and spotted the distant flicker of his campfire. It would be nice to sit down and relax, and by now, he could really use the rest. He had had a long day of thinking, and even then, the answer still didn't come to him. Picking up his pace, Ryouga walked as fast as he could without splashing himself with the cold water. It would be best if he could just curl up and forget everything. Then he thought of Akane, sweet, sweet Akane. How he longed to hold her, but couldn't, those strange feelings for Shampoo was troubling him too much and if he couldn't focus on Akane 100%, then he wasn't worthy of her love. But should he go back and sort out the problem, talk with Shampoo about it? Or should he just stay away from Nerima for a few months? The problems were sure to have solved themselves by then. Shampoo would be back to chasing Ranma, and he could try and win Akane's affection for good. Ryouga stopped as he went over that thought. Could he stay away from Akane for that long, could he really leave her in the hands of Ranma for that long?
Taking the final step into the safe and warm feel of his camp, he nearly cried in joy at seeing his campfire, the extra large tent, and the purple haired girl sitting in front of it. A good long nights sleep would make the problems fade, and maybe he would be able to think of something to do about it in the morning. Setting down the bucket, Ryouga stretched his arms over his head and froze, Purple haired girl. Looking back down and over at his tent, he stared at Shampoo with a look of fear and surprise on his face, just in time to see her turn around and look at him.
All thoughts stopped dead in their tracks as all of his brainpower went to work out this new problem. It was downright impossible for her to be here, she was supposed to be several kilometers away. She was supposed to be either in his house, or at the Neko Hanten. So what the hell was she doing sitting just outside his tent, and staring at him for? He couldn't handle this now, not like this. As Shampoo started to stand up, Ryouga did what he always did when faced with a situation that couldn't be handle with anger, fighting or yelling. He ran. Straight into the bucket, sending him flying forward into the dirt, transforming into P-chan as the water splashed all over him. Making a hard landing on the ground, Ryouga shook the stars from his eyes and began to struggle to get out of the wet shirt. Slowly, the shirt parted as a pair of delicate hands reached down and picked him up to face a pair of purple eyes.
"Lost boy no run away this time."
Shampoo stared down at the struggling black piglet with a small smirk. It would be far easier to prevent the lost boy from running when he was like this. But on the other hand, it was also harder for her to keep an eye on him. She wasn't all that keen on spending the next few hours, or days, keeping track of a small black piglet, no matter who it really was. So, in the end, there was only one real option left to her. Shampoo dropped the piglet to the ground and in one swift motion had tossed the content of the pot still over the fire at it.
"Dammit! HOT! Hot! Hot!" Ryouga screamed when he felt the boiling hot water hit him. Jumping up, he did a quick dance as he could plainly feel each place that the skin would scald and hurt for days. Stopping his dance, Ryouga turned around with a murderous look in his eyes. He was going to kill for this, screw honor. Ryouga's anger quickly faded when he noticed the way Shampoo was looking at him, and wasn't it rather chilly out here?
Shampoo blinked as Ryouga suddenly vanished from view. The only sound that told her where he might be was the sudden rustle of the rough fabric of the tent moving as he jumped into it. Spinning around, Shampoo faced the tent and grinned to herself. The Jusenkyo curse did have some advantages from time to time. But now was not the time for things like that. It was time for answers. It was time to find out why he kept running away from her. "Shampoo honor bound to help lost boy, Lost boy want to shame Shampoo more then Shampoo already is."
Ryouga slowly popped his head out of the tent opening and looked at the Amazon girl with a half glare, slowly, the glare turned into depressed look as he clasped the button on his extra tunic shut. "No… But… I can't stand it; you don't owe me any favors. You don't need to repay me for anything. All I did was help a friend." Ryouga ranted as he stepped out of the tent carrying his sleeping bag in one arm and an extra blanket in the other. "There, I have freed you from you honor bond."
Shampoo snorted and stood up as she grabbed the blanket and sleeping bag from him. "Shampoo follows Amazon law, not your codes." Setting the sleeping bag and blanket aside on the ground, she pulled out a thin, leather bound book and opened it to the page she wanted and handed it over to the puzzled Ryouga.
Running a finger down the characters on the page, Ryouga slowly run over what he knew of the Japanese-Chinese difference in writing and language that he had picked. "Amazon law 120. All Amazons are honor bound by the laws and moral codes set by the first Amazon Pu-Kong to uphold. So will she follow this the rule of life for life payment." Blinking at the somewhat old way of saying things, Ryouga read the rest of the text as well as he could. "On her blood, her soul and her will, service and assistance to the person who had protect and helped the Amazon be carried out to the end of her life, or until her debt has been repaid fully." Ryouga blinked and looked up at Shampoo with wide eyes. "But this, you are not a…"
Shampoo reclaimed the book and looked up at Ryouga with steady eyes and an iron will in her mind. "Shampoo no longer Amazon by blood or law, but Spirit still Amazon." Returning the book to where she got it, Shampoo settled down to stare at Ryouga. "Shampoo follow laws in spirit, so must she help Lost Boy until debt paid in full."
Ryouga clenched his hands tightly as he shot a rather venom filled look into the sky. "Fine, so tell me. How do you plan on paying back the debt if you can't find me." Ryouga wondered if he could handle staying lost forever, but the prospect of spending the next few months with this girl breathing down his neck was not something he looked forward too.
Shampoo blinked and then looked around the area with a lack of confidence. "Shampoo, Shampoo honor bound, of Lost Boy get Lost, Shampoo get lost to find Lost Boy." While most of her outer appearance spoke of confidence and unyielding resolve, she was breaking down on the inside. It was bad enough that she could never set foot on Amazon land with out getting killed or run out by her tribal sisters.
Ryouga's small amount of confidence shattered as he heard the calm way Shampoo declared her willingness to follow him to the ends of the earth in a mad attempt to pay him back for something any martial artist with a grasp of the code would have done. Looking at her eyes, Ryouga saw the somewhat scared part of her, the part that was afraid of giving up on the meager grasps of stability she had left. Could he really condemn someone else to the same rotten kind of life he had? Would getting away from Shampoo be worth destroying her whole life? Ryouga stared at the girl in front of him, slowly feeling like beating down the part of him that would do anything for a girl with a cute smile all the while. He gave into the cruel fate of the world. "I give up."
Shampoo smirked as she stood up and looked at lost boy. "Lost Boy sleep tent, Shampoo stay outside and watch for danger." Turning around the dumbfounded boy, she began to move him towards the tent.
Ryouga blinked as Shampoo began to push him towards the tent. Digging his heels into the ground he looked back at the girl with a rather annoyed look. "No way, you sleep in the tent. And I'll stay outside."
Shampoo pushed even harder as she felt Ryouga try to overpower her. "Shampoo former Amazon, know how to sleep on ground. You do what Shampoo say."
Ryouga broke the somewhat death grip the girl had on his shoulder and glared right back at her with narrowed eyes. "Forget it, I'm not going to let a girl sleep on the ground, my honor code won't allow it."
"Shampoo's code no allow it either."
Tension raised as the two most stubborn, unyielding, and hopeless persons to have ever passed Nerima, fought for superiority over the other. Slowly, one hand moved back.
Shampoo looked up at Ryouga from under the purple bangs of her hair. "There only one way to settle this." Slowly, she flexed her fingers as she mentally prepared for her move.
Ryouga nodded from under his own bangs of hair as a drop of sweat rolled down the side of his nose. "You're right." Carefully he studied the other girl's hand as he prepared for her attack.
Both hands flashed out and stopped right in front of the others. "We settle this, with rock, paper and scissor." Shampoo declared as they both shook their hands in the air.
*****************
Sunlight broke through the clouds and hit Ryouga in the face. Slowly, his eyes cracked opened to take in the sights around him; trees loomed up over him on the one side, and the forest gave way to a breathtaking view at the unspoiled nature of Japan on the other, as well as a several hundred meters drop very close to him.
Feeling no hurry to get up at the moment, Ryouga stared up into the still pink tainted morning sky as he counted the number of puffy white clouds moving across it. Ryouga sighed in a very content way. When it all came down to the point, there wasn't quite anything like seeing a sunrise kilometers away from any kind of civilization. Out here it was just him, the open wilderness and...
"Lost boy sleep well?"
…The Amazon who had spent the night sleeping in his tent. Ryouga nearly tore the sleeping bag as he sat up. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed Shampoo standing outside the tent, stretching her arms and making that t-shirt she had borrowed from him rise up a great deal. "Uggugug…" Ryouga tumbled over back wards as his nose erupted into a shower of blood.
Shampoo blinked at the sudden thud and looked over at Ryouga who had passed out with a small tinkle of blood running out of his nose and a look just like a deer caught in a headlight on his face. Looking at the boy, her eyes blinked and then she looked down at her t-shirt and shook her head in pity. "Stupid lost boy!" Looking at the small and ´barely burning remains of the fire, Shampoo began to wonder just what she was going to cook for breakfast as the other person was out cold for the time being. But first, she would take her morning bath.
*****************
The purple haired girl walked away from the camp, perfectly secure in the knowledge that no matter where she went, she could always find her way back. Ryouga began to stir, his mind still fogged over by the recent blood loss and vigorously working on the most vital solution to the problem. Namely, get something to replace the precious body fluid. Stumbling to his feet, Ryouga's head turned slowly to take in the camp, his eyes finally settling on the small canteen standing next to the dead fire. Twisting the lid off, he lifted it up to his mouth and mumbled in frustration when nothing came out.
Mind still trying to puzzle together the last few moments before the defensive shutdown, he worked for a short time on a list of solutions to this new problem. 1. Get another canteen. 2 Find the river. 3. Wait for it to rain. A quick search through the tent and his backpack showed him that all the water he had heated and put away for emergencies were gone, as were the clean towel and bathing equipment that he always carried around with him.
Turning to solution number three, Ryouga looked up into the sky, trying to force a rain cloud into existence. All he got was a cloudless sky and a small pinecone that chose that exact moment to loosen and fall. Swearing a little, Ryouga reached down and lifted his bucket and dumped the four canteens into them. He'd be damned if he was going to test fate by first taking a bath, and then going back for the bucket and canteens to reheat some new water, what with his sense of direction.
It wasn't until he was halfway down the small hill that he began to work over the fact that his bathing stuff was gone and that something else had been missing from the camp. It hit him when, slowly, Ryouga halted to a stop as he pushed the branches away and stomped through the bush to stare at the splendor of a mountain lake glinting in the early morning light that he remembered what he had forgotten.
"Shampoo!" Everything in his mind hit the brakes as he suddenly got a very good idea as to why his bathing tools were missing. Shooting a quick look around, Ryouga scanned the area for Shampoo just in case she was getting an Akane reaction to a boy showing up when she was bathing. She wasn't over near the pine trees, nor was she at the more rocky part of the lakeshore. And to his right, that bush was doing a great job in hiding everything. Retuning his stare to the lake, Ryouga wondered if he should go out and look for her, of if he should just fill up the canteens and go back to camp. Well, it would be faster if he heated up some water right here and just took his morning bath. Reaching down for the fist canteen, Ryouga blinked as his sixth sense kicked in and warned him about a danger behind him. As he turned his head around he spotted a purple white blur headed straight towards him.
The girl that Ryouga was looking for was currently staring at the lake with a blank expression on her face. Just how the hell was she going to take a bath? One dip into the cold water and she'd be a cat, a small cat in the middle of nowhere. Dropping the lost boy's small bathing bucket onto the ground, she dipped her head forward and started to work over a possible way to solve this problem. She could after all, just soap up, jump in and hope the soap got washed off before it got stuck in the cats fur, and then use some heated water to wash it all off with. Grinning, Shampoo turned around and suddenly cursed as she remembered that she had no way of lighting up a fire with the equipment in the bucket. Grabbing the bucket, she kneeled down and jumped over the bush to make her way back to camp for a match or lighter. Looking down to see where she was landing, she blinked as a head with a yellow and black bandanna turned away from staring at the lake and tilted upwards to look up at her.
Ryouga and Shampoo had time for one short breath of air before the Amazon girl smashed into Ryouga. Arms flailing wildly, Ryouga took a step back and slipped on the canteen that he had dropped seconds before. Shampoo was waving her arms around in complete shock before they locked together in a hold around the lost boy's neck as she tried to find the means to regain her balance. Then the lost boy went lurching over backwards as he took a step behind him. A shiny, and slightly rippling surface came into her view as the world moved in a downward arc. Both teens suddenly screamed when it became all too clear where they were headed.
The lake surface rippled violently as the two bodies broke through it, sending out water in a large splash. Feeling water rush into his mouth, Ryouga snapped it shut and prepared for the frantic fight to escape from his heavy shirt before it could trap his smaller pig form under the water. As the change took over him, he curled up and headed for the largest opening in the now soaked shirt. Above him, a purple pink cat silently screamed as it pattered it paws and kicked it way out of the T-shirt. Breaking the surface and pattering her paws around in the water, Shampoo made her way back to the muddy bank.
Still under the water, Ryouga-p managed to moved out of the shirt completely and headed towards the light above him. Pushing aside the t-shit that suddenly filled his vision, he continued his race for the surface. Just as his small piggy lungs were starting to burn with the need for fresh air, he felt his snout and front hooves break through the water and into the cold morning air. Then the water rushed away from his eyes and his small body shot up into the air. With a mighty bwee, he exhaled the air he had been holding for roughly half a minute, and took in a large gulp of fresh air. Then he sank back down under the surface of the water for a second or two, only to resurface in a slightly calmer fashion.
On the bank, Shampoo-c was coughing up water and shaking her fur from the water that clung to it, making it heavy and cold. Finally, when the fur felt somewhat dry, she turned around and glared at the black shape standing innocently in the shallow water. Then her front paw shot out and the pig squealed and rushed back into the water to hide. Still hissing angrily at the pig, Shampoo never noticed that her tail had grown to twice its size, and that her back had arched upward with all its hair standing up.
In the water, safe from Shampoo's unholy rage and sharp claws, Ryouga wondered if he really shouldn't chance it and try to lose her at the first chance he got. But before he got that far, he still had to get past her. And that meant.
Faking a dash to the right, Ryouga zipped out of the water to the left of Shampoo and bolted into the heavy undergrowth of the forest. Hot on his heels, Shampoo continued to spit out every curse she could.
*****************
It had been hard, but finally she had captured the lost boy. Shampoo smiled as she leaned back and looked up into the sky. Her hair had finally dried and her shirt and pants outfit felt so much better than the t-shirt she had borrowed from the lost boy's backpack last night. Suspended between two trees behind the camp, the still wet clothes were drying. Speaking of the lost boy, her head turned around to stare at the sulking form sitting over the corner, wincing as he dabbed at one of the many scratches and cuts running across his arms, face and back. Giggling a bit, she stood up and walked over to the poor boy. "Shampoo help you?"
Slowly, Ryouga looked up at Shampoo, trying to figure out if she was being sincere or looking for a chance to hurt him some more. Then his face turned down and he looked at the first aid box settled in between his legs. He was most likely going to regret this, but it would be nice to get some help. In a hesitant fashion, his hand moved up, holding out the cloth and bottle of salve that he used to clean the small cuts with. "Thank you, Can you reach the ones on my back?"
Shampoo broke into a smile and grabbed the small bottle and cloth and settled in behind him. Slowly, she dabbed the cloth with the salve and began to clean the nastier one of the cuts she had made on his back. As she noticed the faint traces of blood running down from some of them, she blinked her eyes and tried to beat down the strange and sudden feeling of guilt she felt. Setting the bottle down, she placed the cloth piece across her leg and picked up some small band-aids and bandages to wrap around the wounds to protect them. Smiling as she wrapped the white bandage around his arm, she suddenly looked up and reached out a hand to trace the pattern of one of the small cuts on his shoulder. "Shampoo...Shampoo sorry about the way Shampoo act."
Ryouga blinked as the girl suddenly blurted out the words behind him; he had been too preoccupied with feeling her hands on his shoulder and how gentle she had been in cleaning the cuts. He had snapped out of it, though, when he had heard the first few words. Mulling over her words, Ryouga turned around and looked at the girl as she sat there behind him, her long purple bangs covering her eyes. "No, it's not your fault, it was my fault for standing there."
Looking up, Shampoo reached out her hands and grabbed Ryouga's shoulders. "Shampoo fault, Shampoo one who jump." Looking down at the ground, she moved a hand over one the cuts. "Shampoo hurt you, Shampoo no hurt one who help." Looking up with a single tear in her eye, she turned her head away and lets the silver drops fall freely. "Shampoo no worthy."
Ryouga blinked and felt his heart of glass crack slightly at the sight of the girl crying before him. Slowly, his hand reached out and gently cupped her face. "Shampoo, stop crying." Turning her head to face him, he reached down and hugged her. "Please stop crying, I don't want you to cry because of me." As the girl before him sniffed, Ryouga's heart nearly stopped as he got a clear view of the eyes before him.
Still feeling the hand holding her, Shampoo sniffed one last time and looked up. She couldn't judge the feelings in the hazel green eyes before her, but the way they seemed to move into one made her freeze, and her heart to beat a faster pace. Slowly, she began to move closer as his head dipped down to meet her own.
"Snort."
Both heads stopped midway and turned to face the intruder who had just destroyed the magic moment. Standing across from them on the edge of the forest, a large brown boar grunted as it scraped its hoof across the rock surface. In front of her, Shampoo felt Ryouga tense up and remove his hand from her chin. Slowly, in a steady pace, he began to edge over to his backpack. Puzzled, she followed his every movement, then her head snapped back as the boar squealed louder, only to notice that the boar had turned away from her direction and was charging at Ryouga in much the same manner that the boar she had met yesterday had done.
Ryouga jumped and rolled the last distance to his backpack, reaching down and pulling the umbrella up from where it lay on the ground, then holding it up in time to stop the boar from ramming him. Watching it with narrowed eyes, he timed his next move, and waited until the boar pressed forward again to drop down and press the boar up into the air. Giving the massive swine a glare, he ducked down, got a better foothold and launched the pig away.
Shampoo finally blinked her eyes when the pig smashed into the ground. Laying on its back for a short time, it suddenly rolled over and gave a loud squeal before running off.
Dropping the umbrella down to rest on the ground, Ryouga looked up into the sky and shook his head. Then he turned to face Shampoo. "Look, we better get moving. I don't wanna be caught in a mountain storm."
Standing up, Shampoo grimaced as she spotted a few gray clouds moving across the sky. "Shampoo and Ryouga go back yes? Great Grandmother be worried about Shampoo."
Ryouga grunted in response as he used the skill he had gotten from hundred of hours on the road, and packed the tent, sleeping bag, and leftover garbage down into different waterproof bags, somehow managing to fit it all into the narrow space of his backpack. Standing up, he strapped the backpack into place over his shoulder and relaxed when the umbrella slid into place on top of it. Then he gave a quick glance at Shampoo to see how far she had gotten. Oh god, Shampoo, he had almost. his heart rate suddenly took a beating and went into overdrive, his brain kicked into action and did its best to prevent Ryouga from going into cardiac arrest while standing up by shutting down everything but balance and breathing.
Across from him, Shampoo was busy packing up her own stuff, still pondering over what had happened, when she looked up and spotted Ryouga standing in the middle of it all, wearing this strange and glazed-over look on his face as he stared at her. Scratching her head in confusion, she moved up and began to wave a hand in front of his eyes. "Ryouga, Okay?" Shrugging when she didn't get any response beside a blink of his eyes, she reached down and grabbed his hand. "Come, Shampoo know way." And so, holding onto the hand of wildly stammering Ryouga, Shampoo began to guide him down the mountainside.
TBC: The way home. Didn't we take the left trail here?
AN: Sorry, Sorry. I'm sorry that I haven't updated this story until now. But I have so many other stories that also needed to be updated. And real life demands my attention a lot right now, but it should cool down a bit in the next few weeks. I'll try to get out the next chapter a little faster, but first I need to update a little girl and her big boar, that story hasn't been updated for as long as this one. On the other side, I went and got me a new and improved website. Tell me what you think of it.
Dak.