Determination: Chapter Three “The Lost Boys”
The sky was a brilliant red and orange as the sun set. The moon would have been visible by now if not for the cloud cover that night. Ryuu looked to the sky, between the trees, as it turned black. Only back on the road for a day, he was not sure how far he had gotten. His injuries slowed him down considerably and he was exhausted from the day of walking. That combined with the oncoming darkness made him stop. The ground was damp and uncomfortable, and the night was cold. He slowly started to drift off to sleep as the sky became completely black. It was probably because of that, that as his eyes blinked in and out of consciousness, he noticed a flickering light not too far off. He cautiously and quietly crept over to the light source. He peered out from the thicket onto a clearing. In the center of the clearing was a roaring fire. A kettle sat over the fire and steam rose from it. No one was around. He wondered why someone would leave with water still boiling on the fire. The camp looked tempting to him. He edged his way out of the bushes and looked around. The only thing that made him withdraw was a backpack sitting a few feet behind the fire. Even if they had left the fire and kettle behind he didn’t think they would leave all their supplies behind. Ryuu crouched down in the overgrowth well out of view from anyone who would enter the camp.
****
Ryuu’s eyes grew heavy and he found himself struggling to stay awake. It had been long enough he thought. That fire looked very inviting and he needed to sleep eventually. A rustling sound came from the other side of the camp. It seemed that the owner of the site had come back. That’s why it came as a surprise when a small black piglet came out from the underbrush. The pig shook its body and sprayed water in all directions. He must have fallen in a nearby stream, Ryuu thought. Ryuu continued to watch the pig. Most of what it had done was very strange behavior for a pig; of course the pig was wearing a bandana around his neck so it was an odd pig to begin with. It walked towards the fire and put its hooves up on the spout of the kettle tipping it towards itself.
“Ahh! That’s hot!”
Ryuu was startled by what he just saw and stumbled out of his hiding place and into the camp looking up at the naked boy that now stood before him.
“You wanna hand me my clothes?”
Ryuu wasn’t sure what to do, so he complied with the boy and handed a pile of clothes to him.
“Well since you’ve decided to just barge in on me like this, maybe I should find out who you are.”
“My name is Ryuu Kumon.”
“Well hello Ryuu, my name is Ryouga Hibiki. You know I don’t meet many people out in the middle of the Chinese wilderness like this.”
“Chinese? You do know we’re in the middle of Japan right?”
Ryouga face faulted and pulled out his map.
“I must have turned around somewhere.”
Ryuu walked over and looked at the map over Ryouga’s shoulder.
“Ryouga, this is a map of Europe. You’re not going to find Japan or China anywhere on it.”
Ryouga angrily crumbled up the map and threw it into the fire.
“Gah! I’m never going to find Jusenkyou!”
“Jusenkyou, you say? What a coincidence, I’m headed there myself.”
Ryouga looked at Ryuu.
“Seeing how well you read that map, maybe you’d like to follow me there.”
“I can find my own way there, but you look pretty weak. I doubt you could make it there all by yourself. Maybe I’ll go with you anyway just to make sure you don’t get hurt.”
Ryuu shook his head and laughed a little to himself.
****
Sweat ran down Ranma’s brow as the sun’s rays beat down on him. He strained to keep moving as his breath became uneasy.
“Can’t we stop for a rest?”
“Oh Ranma honey, are you tired already? Akane and I still have plenty of energy.”
“Well that’s because I’m dragging your yatai, why’d you bring this along anyway?”
“Well I couldn’t very well leave my business behind with Konatsu, after all I’d like to make money, not lose it!”
“Could you two at least get off of it then! You know Akane isn’t the lightest person in the world.”
A vein twitched in Akane’s forehead and she pulled a large mallet out of subspace and planted it into Ranma’s skull. Ranma’s knees fell out from beneath him and he fell face first into the dirt.
“Well at least I get to rest.”
****
Ryuu and Ryouga found themselves at the edge of a small town. They had decided to travel together due to convenience. It was near midday and the streets were bustling with the day’s activities.
“Should we stop for supplies?”
“Don’t worry Ryouga, I’ve got plenty of food, its best we just keep moving.”
A woman ran out of her house seeing the two walk past and ran out to them.
“You’re martial artists, right?”
“Uh…yeah,” Ryouga responded.
“You have to help me then, last night my daughter was abducted.”
“I’m sorry…we don’t have time for this.”
Ryuu walked off leaving Ryouga and the woman behind.
The woman yelled out to Ryuu, “Please help me find my darling Nodoka!”
“I’m sorry about him…he’s just very determined on something.”
Ryouga started to follow Ryuu but then stopped as Ryuu did. Ryuu clenched his fist cussing to himself then turned around and walked back towards the woman grabbing Ryouga by the shoulder on the way by.
“C’mon, we’re going to help her!”
“Do you have any idea who might have taken her?” Ryuu asked.
“Oh thank you!”
The woman hugged Ryuu crying hysterically. Ryuu pushed her away a little.
“Um…just answer the question.”
“Yes, the vampire took her.”
Ryuu and Ryouga looked at each other and then both chimed in at once, “Vampire!?”
“Yes, a vampire has been abduction all the beautiful young women in this town lately.”
“Sure…we’ll find her,” Ryuu walked away as he said it.
Ryouga followed him and grabbed his shoulder from behind.
“What’s going on here? Why’d you suddenly change your mind?”
Ryuu growled, “Because, I’m looking for a woman named Nodoka. I’m doing this in her honor.”
“Nodoka? Saotome?”
“Yes that’s her! You know her?”
“She’s my rival, Ranma’s, mother. Of course I know her.”
“Looks like we have something more in common than I thought, I’ve had my own run-ins with Ranma. Now, lets find that woman’s daughter and hopefully the other missing girls too.”
“Hai.”
****
Night fell and Ryuu and Ryouga positioned themselves right inside the town. A small figure wearing a black cape bounded into the town, laughing. Ryuu motioned to Ryouga and he ran around the side of a building. The two of them jumped out simultaneously and cornered the figure.
“Stop right there, Vampire!” Ryouga called out.
The figure laughed, “I’m no vampire!”
“Then why are you abducting young women and dressing like that?”
The figure just laughed some more. Ryuu was fed up already and charged.
“HAPPO FIRE BLAST!”
“Oh great, it’s the old man,” Ryouga said as Ryuu jumped out of the way of the blast.
Ryouga charged taking out his umbrella. Happosai tossed the small bombs at Ryouga, who blocked them with his umbrella.
“DON’T MOVE!”
Both Ryouga and Happosai stopped in their tracks.
“MOKO KAIMON HA!”
Ryuu’s blow slammed right into Happosai’s shoulder knocking him across the street.
“GOLD CORD TIGHT BINDING SOAR!”
Ryuu pulled a rope from his backpack and tied Happosai up. Ryouga still stood there dumbfounded by the violent art, which had defeated Happosai so easily.
****
All the missing girls returned to their families. Ryuu and Ryouga were given some extra food for their journey. Happosai sat there tied up.
“Can’t I at least keep their panties?!”
“What should we do with the old lech?” Ryouga asked Ryuu.
“Heh…lets leave him here and let the locals deal with him.”
Ryuu and Ryouga left the town as Happosai was being stomped into the ground by all the girls he had kidnapped.
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