The Tale of the Lost Ones
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Desert Wolf
Chapter Two: Lost in China
Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Ranma, so don't sue me please.
'So this guy really is Ryoga Hibiki. There can be no other explanation to this situation than that. After all, he just shattered a freakin' rock in front of my eyes. That should definitely not be possible. At least it wouldn't be possible if I was still at home. So the note in my wallet didn't lie at all. That would also explain why my papers say I'm homeless. I've just arrived here, so I really don't have a home in this world. But what should I do now?'
Before she could continue her thoughts, her attention was caught by some movement. When she focused her vision on it, she realized that the movement came from Ryoga, who was waving his hand in front of her eyes.
"Uh ... what is it?" she asked.
"Oh, so you are still awake after all. I thought you were unconcious again. You just sat there staring and didn't react to what I said."
"Well you could say I'm kinda shocked right now. I've never seen anyone do anything like this before. I didn't think it was possible. It was simply amazing."
Ryoga, who wasn't used to get that kind of admiration from a girl, blushed slightly at her remark and scratched the back of his head.
"Uhm ... well ... thanks ... I guess."
When Kimiko saw his reaction to her words, she remembered some important details about his character. Ryoga was the type of guy who would fall in love with every girl who was nice to him. That could become a pretty big problem really soon. Kimiko really didn't want to have to deal with his affections, especially because she seriously doubted that she would survive even one of the Lost Boy's infamous bone-crushing-hugs. She'd have to tell him about her 'preferences' pretty soon to avoid further complications, but for now she just decided to change the subject.
"So, Ryoga, you said something about finding your rival."
Ryoga's expression got serious once again. "Yeah that's right"
"You got any clues where he is right now?"
"I've heard some rumors that he is on the way to a martials arts training ground named Jusenkyo together with his father. I hope that I can finally catch them there."
"Do you know where this Jusenkyo place is?"
"Actually ... no."
"So you're just as lost as I am?"
As much as he hated to admit it, Ryoga knew it was the truth. "Yeah..."
"So how about this: We are both lost, and we both travel alone. Why don't we just travel together for a while. At least until we find some village or something. I don't know about you, but as you can see I'm here in the middle of nowhere without any food or equipment, so I really need to find a place to buy some supplies. So how about it, you in or what?"
Ryoga considered this for a moment. He doubted that he'd find Jusenkyo anytime soon with his bad sense of direction, and it would be nice to have someone to talk to for a change, so he finally nodded. "Alright, but where do you want to find a village way out here?"
"Well I figured that I'd just follow this river until I reach one. Most likely they don't have any other sources of water here, so there has to be a village near the river somewhere."
That made enough sense to Ryoga. "Okay, let's go then."
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Ryoga was really in a talkative mood. While they were traveling, he told Kimiko much about himself and his life. She already knew some of it because she had read the Manga, but it was still very interesting. While they were talking, she also figured out that Ryoga and herself had actually much in common. Both of them were loners. Social outcasts who never had any real friends in their life. The fact that they shared the same problems made Kimiko feel comfortable around the Lost Boy. Finally she could talk to someone who understood her problems, and it was obvious that Ryoga felt the same way about her.
When it started to get dark, they decided to set up a small camp and rest for the night. They gathered some firewood to make a small campfire.
Ryoga boiled some water over the fire, and when it was hot enough, he took two cups of instant Ramen out of his backpack and handed Kimiko one of them.
Kimiko literally wolfed down the food at an impressive speed.
Ryoga commented this sight by saying: "You sure are hungry, aren't you?"
Kimiko looked up from her cup. "Of course I'm hungry. I haven't eaten anything for two days now."
"You know, if you told me that you were hungry, I'd given you something earlier."
Kimiko just waved it off. "It doesn't matter. I'm still fine after all."
Ryoga sighed. "Whatever you say."
And with that, they both continued their meal.
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After they were done eating, Kimiko decided to bring the conversation back to Ranma once more.
"Just to make sure I got that right, you want to kick that Ranma guys ass 'cause he stole your braed in junior high. Don't you think you're overdoing it a bit here?"
Ryoga clenched his fists when he heard his dreaded rivals name. "This battle isn't about bread anymore. It's about honor. Only a coward runs away from a duel. I cannot forgive him for doing this."
"But you told me that you were four days late. Remember that you were both kids back then. If Ranma really was on a training trip with his father all the time, chances are that said father just came and dragged him away to continue his training, and Ranma couldn't do anything about it."
Ryoga knew that she had a point there, but he was much to proud and stubborn to admit that he might have been wrong all that time. "It doesn't matter now. I've spent years training and searching for Ranma to finish this battle once and for all, and I'm not gonna back out of it now that I'm so close to finally finding him."
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The rest of their conversation was more pleasant. Kimiko decided that since Ryoga had told her his story, it would only be fair to tell him hers.
She first wanted to make something up, because she seriously doubted that Ryoga would believe that she was from another dimension, but she couldn't come up with a good story. In addition to that, she decided that she should be honest to her new friend if she wanted this to be a long lasting friendship.
So she told him the truth. The only thing she left out was the Ranma Manga, because it really would have complicated things if Ryoga knew about that.
After she had finished her story, she expected Ryoga to express his disbelief, but that never happened. Instead, he just said: "Wow, and I thought my own situation was bad, being lost in a foreign country and all, but yours is even worse. You're lost in another world. That even tops me, and that's really something when it comes to getting lost. Trust me with that one."
Kimikos mood got a whole lot better when she heard him speak those words. "So you do belive my story? I have to say that really surprises me, because it sounds so unrealistic and stuff."
"Ah not really. Don't forget that I've travelled for years. I've seen many strange things during those trips. I don't know about your home world, but magic isn't so uncommon in this one. So there's really no reason why dimensional travel shouldn't be possible, too. And it would also explain a few things. Like why you ended up in the middle of the chinese wilderness without any equiment or food."
"I don't really know what to say now. I didn't expect you to believe me in the first place." She paused for a few seconds, and then added. "But I'm really glad you do."
Ryoga just nodded in silent undestanding.
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After that they didn't talk for quite a while, but when the silence eventually got uncomfortable, Kimiko decided to change the subject again. "So what are we gonna do now? I mean you have great trouble finding your rival due to your bad sense of direction, and I'm lost on a foreign world with nothing to do and nowhere to go. We are both lost in a way, so I suggest: Let's team up. I can help you find Ranma, and you can help me find a place in this world. And you could teach me some of your martial arts if you like."
By the time she finished, Ryoga was already convinced to accept her offer. During the last few hours he had grown to like the strange girl named Kimiko. She seemed to understand him like no one else did, and if Ryoga Hibiki needed one thing, it was a friend. But there was still one thing which disturbed him slightly.
"You want to learn the art? I think I won't really be a good teacher. At least I've never taught anyone before. And why do you want to learn it anyway?"
"Well I think you'll do alright as a teacher. And to answer your question: I think it's always useful if you kow how to defend yourself. Besides, I want to learn how to crush rocks." she said with a broad smile.
Ryoga shook his head in defeat. "I guess I could try to teach you a few basic moves, but I think we should start with something easier than crushing a rock."
Kimiko's smile grew even wider "I knew you would say that."
Ryoga just sighed.
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They decided that they would train in the mornings after breakfast, and in the evenings before they set up their camp. This way, they would be able to travel during the day without having to make brakes for training.
When they were done planning their training, Kimiko said: "Well it's getting pretty late already. why don't we go to sleep soon, it's gonna be a tough day tomorrow."
Hearing those words, Ryoga remembered something he'd completely forgotten about, and became increasingly nervous.
Kimiko noticed this and asked: "What's the matter with you now? You're behaving like something isn't right"
"Well I completely forgot to tell you I've only got one sleeping bag. You can have it if you like, but there's a bigger problem. I also only have one tent."
"Then we're both gonna sleep in it, what's the problem about that?"
Ryoga's eyes just widened when she said that.
Kimiko noticed this of course, so she added: "Hey don't get the worng idea buddy. We're just sleeping in there, okay? I'm not into guys anyway, so don't try to do anything funny." She said all this with a slight smirk though, because she knew very well that Ryoga would never abuse a girl, especially not in that way.
Ryoga tried to protest, but Kimiko just ignored it, so he eventually gave up and the two of them prepared Ryoga's tent for the night.
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Fifteen minutes later Kimiko was already sound asleep.
Ryoga had more trouble with falling asleep, mostly because there was a girl sleeping next to him in a very small tent.
'I gotta get outta here, I can't sleep like that.'
A few seconds after he had thought that, it suddenly started to rain outside, and judging by the sound of the raindrops falling onto the tent, it was a rather heavy shower as well.
'Great, now I can't even sleep outside. Just my luck.'
He looked at Kimiko. 'How can she sleep like that anyway, with me being here and all. Well, she did look really tired. Guess she isn't used to traveling like I am.'
Then another thought struck him. 'What did she mean when she said 'I'm not into guys anyway?' Could it be? No it can't. But that might explain why she's not feeling uncomfortable around me. No that's impossible. But she said it herself. Oh my god, what if it's true?'
From that point on, Ryoga's thoughts involving Kimiko became increasingly 'graphic'.
That also helped him to finally get some sleep. He passed out because of the massive blood loss he suffered from a nosebleed, a small side effect of his 'thinking'.
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The next morning, they started their training as planned.
Ryoga showed Kimiko a few basic katas first, so she could learn some beginners moves.
Then he continued with some exercises to improve her strength.
The last part of the training consisted of something like a sparring session. He told her to attack him with all her might. Of course he only dodged and blocked her attacks, she was still way to inexperienced for a real sparring.
After about an hour, Kimiko was completely exhausted.
"Wow ... that was really hard." she said while she was lying on the floor and breathing heavily.
"It has to be that way, or else you won't gain anything out of it."
"Well you're the expert, so I'll trust you with that one."
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After a short break, Kimiko was finally able to move again, so they continued their journey along the river.
Kimiko's guess proved to be correct when they really reached a small village around noon.
It wasn't really special in any way, but at least it had a small store.
Ryoga, who was well equipped, decided not to buy anything there, because he doubted that the store would have anything which could be useful to him.
Kimiko on the other hand didn't really have a choice. She needed at least some basic stuff like food, a few clothes and a blanket, so she wouldn't have to borrow Ryoga's sleeping bag all the time. She could still get some better equip once she reached a bigger town. Ryoga had offered to carry her stuff in his backpack for now, mainly because he expected that the store won't sell any decent backpacks, which proved to be correct when Kimiko browsed the store later.
Fortunately Ryoga had told her that the funny looking money she found in her wallet were actually chinese Yuan. So whoever hab placed it there together with that mysterious note, he must have expected that she'd get into a situation like this.
So Kimiko entered the store, and was greeted by a small, middle aged man who stood behind the counter. Of course she didn't understand a word he said since he was chinese.
The man also figured out pretty fast that she didn't understand him, so he just gave her the stuff she pointed at.
The store itself was like Ryoga had told her it would be. Since they were far away from civilization here, everything looked like it had been taken from an earlier century. Everything in here seemed to be handmade, and it was all in a very traditional chinese style.
That really became a problem when she was about to buy some clothing. 'No wonder Ranma wears those chinese clothes all the time. They don't have anything else here. I bet he bought all his clothes in China and didn't really have the money to buy new ones when he got back to japan. Either that, or he just likes the style. Well I guess I don't really have a choice, too. I need some clothes, so I'll just have to buy some of these.'
She took a closer look at the clothes and realized that many of them really resembled Ranma's typical style. There were also some which looked more like something Shampoo would wear, but most oft them were a bit to revealing for Kimiko's taste, so she chose the Ranma style. The only difference was, that instead of taking mainly red shirts, most of the shirts she picked were colored in a Ryoga style yellow.
The store owner looked at her with a bit of suspicion in his eyes and said something, but since she still didn't understand a word, she just paid all the stuff she picked and left. But befeore she exited the store, she went into it's small dressing room and changed into one of her new outfits.
"Stupid foreigeners." the store owner mumbled to himself. "That girl just bought a whole pile of men's clothing."
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When she exited the store, Ryoga was already waiting for her. He was a bit surprised to see her wearing completely different clothes than before.
"So what do you think?" she asked pointing at herself.
Ryoga took a closer look at her yellow silk shirt and her black silk pants, and finally said "Not to bad, they are better to train in than your old clothes."
"That's not what I mean."
"Huh?"
"Ah nevermind already." she said with a light frown, but she quickly recovered and focused her attention on something else. "So what about you? Did you find out anything, like where we are for example?"
"Yeah. My chinese is very limitend, but I found someone who marked on my map where we are now, and where Jusenkyo is."
"You speak chinese?"
"As I said, not much. But i've learned a little bit during my various trips to China. So you wanna take a look on my map?"
"Sure thing."
Kimiko studied the map for a few moments, and then spoke up again. "So we are here, and Jusenkyo is there. It isn't even that far away. I think we'll be able to reach it in a few days."
The Lost Boy got all exited when he heard this. "Really? I'll finally be able to pay Ranma back for all the pain I had to endure. So what are we waiting for. Let's go."
Without another word, Ryoga walked off towards his destination.
"Uhm ... Ryoga." Kimiko called out after him.
"What is it? Come on already. We have no time to waste."
"That's the wrong direction"
"Oh, sorry. I guess I was just getting a bit to excited." He said with a sheepish grin.
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Not much happened during the next few days of their journey, except the daily training, wandering, eating and sleeping. Of course they also talked a lot, and therefore got to know, and like each other even more.
On the fifth day, their destination finally came in sight.
"So this is Jusenkyo?" Ryoga asked looking at the still faraway cursed training ground.
"Yeah it is, at least according to the map." Kimiko answered. "From now on, we should be careful. There's something about this place I don't like. It gives me the creeps." 'And that's definitely the cursed springs, but I don't know how to explain this to him without mentioning the Manga.' She mentally added to herself.
"Well the guy at the Village who marked this place on our map said something about a curse, but I didn't understand the details."
Kimiko felt a bit of relief when she heard that Ryoga already knew that there was a curse, even if he didn't know it's exact nature.
"So let's just be extra careful okay?"
"Alright, and now let's go and find that coward Saotome."
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Author's notes: First things first: I'm really sorry that you had to wait longer for this chapter than I initially announced, but my PC is broken right now, and I don't have an internet connection yet in my new appartment anyway. So I have to write and post all this stuff in an internet café, which is not a very comfortable way to do it.
Second I want to thank you guys for the positive feedback I've received through your reviews. Since this is my first story, I didn't really expect anyone to like it. So thanks again guys.
Now a few words about this chapter: I know it's full of crappy dialogue and lacks action, but it had to be done that way to properly introduce the characters to each other and get the story flowing. I promise there will be more action in the next chapter.
I'm also well aware of the fact that parts of this chapter may seem like the typical SI cliche, for example Kimiko already getting martial arts training by Ryoga. But I assure you that she won't turn into your average cliche overpowered SI character who easily kicks anyone's ass including Ranma's. I just figured that, if you mess around with the Nerima crew, you'll need some kind of martial arts training, or you will most likely be in deep trouble sooner or later. And since the art is clearly the main theme of Ranma, and every major chracter practices it, chances are way to high that she'd become a minor character pretty soon if she doesn't learn how to fight, and that is clearly not what I want her to be.
Also a word to all you martial arts practitioners out there. I know nothing about actual martials arts training methods, so Ryoga's training in this chapter is my own invention. Feel free to flame me if that kind of training is bull for someone new to the art, I'm always open for suggestions on how to make it better.
Same goes for the chinese clothing scene. I don't really know if Ranma's clothes are actually only mens clothes or not. I just heard that somewhere and thought it might be funny to have the shopkeeper make that remark. Please correct me if I'm wrong here.
Well what will happen next time? Will Ryoga defeat Ranma, or will he get his ass kicked? Will they even find the Saotomes at Jusenkyo? Will anyone get cursed, and if yes, who will it be? Will it be Kimiko? Or Ryoga? Or both? Or none of them? And who else will get a curse? Ranma and Genma? Most likely. But you never know until you actually read it.
Find your answer to the questions above in chapter 3. Unless of course I decide not to answer all of them.
And be warned once again. Chapter 3 will most likely also take some time till it's finished, mostly because I haven't planned out much of it by now. The curses, if someone gets one, will have a drastic influence on the story, no matter who gets a curse and which one it will be. I just need time to think about this complicated matter.
So until next time I wish you luck, and have fun with whatever you're doing.
Desert Wolf