Here's chapter 2.  C&C welcome!
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Standard Disclaimer:  Ranma 1/2 characters and situations
are copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, and is not my property.
I'm just borrowing them to write an enjoyable fiction.  This
work is Copyrighted to the author, and in no way is it to be
sold, altered, or just plain old renamed.  This work is by a
fan for fans for free!

 A Feather in the Wind

  Chapter 2

      The stars shone brightly as a silhouette trudged along
a dirt road.  Tied atop his pack was a limp figure, but he
showed no sign of strain from carrying the load.  In the
distance behind him, the lights of Tokyo splayed across the
land, totally unnoticed.  Walking tirelessly, he searched
for a place he would like to call home, the Tendo dojo.
After walking for several hours, he stopped and walked off
to one side of the path.  Gently he removed his pack, and
the girl from his back, then proceeded to set up camp.
After he had pitched his tent, he moved the girl inside, and
started a fire.  The flickering flames revealed Ryouga's
face.  He pulled various supplies out of his pack, and set
about making a small meal.
      Morning at the Tendo dojo was quiet.  Ranma had woken
up early, and was all set to practice with his father again,
when a sharp pain in his leg reminded him that he shouldn't
be pushing himself.
      "Ow... Geez that smarts"  He complained about his leg
as he limped towards the bathroom. As he passed Akane's
room, he peeked in, and saw that Akane was still asleep, but
looked more like she had been crying all night.
      ::Was she actually worried?::  Ranma thought.
Silently he crept into the room, and pulled a chair away
from the desk.  He sat and watched Akane as she slept.  As
he watched, he failed to notice that Kasumi had peeked into
the room, saw him watching over Akane, smile, and then close
the door.
      Akane was having a nightmare.  It seemed that she was
running from something, but it was gaining on her.  Then
Ranma appeared, he had turned to face the beast, but it tore
him to pieces.  In her dream Akane screamed and charged
after her pursuer, and stopped dead in her tracks.  She saw
an evil version of herself, splattered with Ranma's blood.
The evil Akane slowly started walking towards her, and
grinned, revealing blood stained teeth and fangs, she
reached towards the fear-paralyzed Akane, and opened her
mouth wide as if to take a bite.  Screaming, Akane sat bolt
upright in her bed, sweating heavily.
      "Akane are you OK?"  Ranma had leapt up from the
chair, ignoring the pain, and was next to her in a flash.
"Man, you look terrible!  Didja have a nightmare or
something?"  Akane looked blankly at Ranma for a second.
Suddenly tears welled up in her eyes, and she grabbed Ranma
in a bear hug.  Hiding her face in his shoulder, she cried.
      "Ah.. Akane?  You OK?  You're freaking me out
Akane..."  Ranma awkwardly tried to comfort Akane.  Akane
said something unintelligible in-between her sobs.
      The door burst open, startling Ranma.  He looked
behind him and saw that Mr. Tendo was standing in the door,
with Kasumi, Nabiki, and Genma behind him.   "What's going
on son?  Did you make my little girl cry?"  Mr. Tendo was
starting to go into Demon head mode.
      "Yah!  No way Mr. Tendo!!  She just woke up and
started crying,  I have no idea why."  Ranma waved one hand
at Mr. Tendo as if to fend him off.  Akane blearily lifted
her head from Ranma's shoulder and weakly smiled at her
father.
      "It's OK daddy," she dashed the tears from her eyes
with her fists, and smiled, "I'm just really glad that
Ranma's OK."
      "Huh?  Uh, you mean that Akane?" Ranma was startled.
::She WAS worried about me...  Now what do I do?:: Ranma
froze, not knowing how to respond to this at all.  Akane
nodded at him and looked out the window.
      "That's my boy!  Looking out for your fiancee like
that, you make your father proud!"  Genma beamed.
      "Well now son, when should we have the ceremony?"  Mr.
Tendo asked, smiling hugely.
      "Daaad!" Akane looked angrily at her father, "I didn't
say I wanted to marry him yet!" she fumed.  Ranma was still
in brain lock from Akane's confession, and just looked
stupidly at Mr. Tendo.
      "Come on Akane, what else can he actually do for you,
you want him to get himself killed trying to protect you
without being able to claim you as his wife?"  Nabiki asked.
Akane was stung by her sister's words, and a vision of Ranma
being torn apart in her dream haunted her.  Tears started
welling up in her eyes again.  This brought Ranma out of
lock.
      "Hey don't start crying again OK?  No one here likes
it when you cry, it just doesn't become you.  Smile, it
really brightens a room up when you smile."  Ranma tried
comforting Akane,  "Will you smile for me Akane?"  He asked
softly, blushing to the roots of his hair.  Akane looked
into his eyes and saw only worry and concern for her there.
She wiped her eyes and tried to smile.  "There you go Akane!
I'm going to leave the room so you can get dressed OK?  I
think Kasumi has breakfast ready, right Kasumi?"  He looked
over at the eldest Tendo girl.
      "Why yes, breakfast is ready.  Why don't you all come
downstairs now?"  She smiled and turned to leave.  At the
mention of breakfast, Genma practically dashed away from the
door.  Nabiki left as well, grumbling about how it was
really too early for anything.  Ranma disentangled himself
from Akane gently, and hobbled towards the door.
      "Ranma!"  Akane called out.  He froze, then looked
over his shoulder.
      "What?"
      "Thanks, for being here for this morning.."  Akane
blushed as she stammered.  Ranma blushed again, as well.
      "Uh yeah, no problem right?  I'll see you at
breakfast."  He left, and Mr. Tendo followed him out of the
room, shutting the door behind him.  Akane looked around her
room and sighed.  ::That dream was way too real::  She
thought, as she got dressed for the day.  When she got down
to the table, she noticed that Ranma was already eating.
Actually inhaling the food may have been a better
description.
      "The doctor said he needed to eat a lot to regain his
strength Akane"  Kasumi said as she filled a bowl with miso
for Akane.  Akane bit her tongue to keep from saying
anything about it, and just concentrated on her food.
      "Any sign of Ryouga, or Feather?" Akane asked after
breakfast.  Ranma shook his head.
      "Naw, but I'm sure they're OK.  I mean, Ryouga is
always out and about on his own right?  And he did have his
pack with him, so they have food and shelter.  But they
could be almost anywhere right now."
      "I hope your right Ranma," Akane looked worried, "It's
just that, well Feather hasn't been out for so long, and
she's probably just as lost as Ryouga out there."
      "They'll be fine"  Ranma said.  Ranma started to say
something else to Akane, but he was interrupted by Shampoo
bursting through a wall and glomping on him, causing an
involuntary cry of pain.
      "Nihau Ranma!  You famous now yes?"  Shampoo said as
she continued to hug him tightly.
      "Shampoo!  Get off my leg!" Ranma practically
screamed.  Akane was starting to burn with her battle aura.
Shampoo leapt off to one side of Ranma, and sat there.
      "Shampoo sorry, now tell Shampoo all about what
happen.  News man say you no talk to them for TV."  Shampoo
ignored Akane's presence entirely, making her even more
furious.  Ranma was looking confused.
      "How did you know it was me anyways?  I took pains to
stay off camera."
      "Shampoo know when husband do something.  They say
that man who rescued the girl no want be on TV, or even talk
about it, but they catch a glimpse of you fighting your way
through crowd to get home."  Shampoo smiled widely, "Genma
stand out like sore thumb in crowd!"
      Ranma groaned and put his hands in his face.  "I'm
going back to bed."  He said as he struggled to get up.
Shampoo looked hurt, but said nothing.  Akane calmed down a
little bit, and her face visibly softened as Ranma struggled
up the stairs.
      "Shampoo no like seeing husband hurt, he only seem to
be half way here."  Shampoo said softly to Akane.
      "I know what you mean."   Akane's answer startled
Shampoo.  She had been expecting some sort of insult towards
Ranma, but Akane's soft-spoken answer seemed to be heart
felt.  Shampoo opened her mouth to say something, but it
died on her lips as Ukyou walked in from the hallway.
      "Akane!  I heard the news, where's Ran-chan?"  Ukyou
sat down next to Akane.  Akane pointed upstairs, not willing
to talk at the moment.  "Oh, he's asleep?  Tell me what
happened Akane!  I know you were there with him, were either
of you hurt?  I only heard a little bit about it on the
radio...Akane what's wrong?"  Ukyou was concerned, because
it seemed her words were upsetting Akane pretty badly, and
she seemed to be close to tears.  Akane's mouth moved, but
no words made it past her closed throat.  Ukyou leaned
closer, indicating that she didn't hear.  Akane swallowed
hard, and then tried again.
      "He got shot, he took the bullet for me and then ran
carrying me and Feather.  He almost bled to death."  Ukyou
and Shampoo's faces went white, and tears were running
freely from Akane's eyes, "When we stumbled into Ryouga's
house, he collapsed from the blood loss, and he just lay
there bleeding, a big, red, pool... of his blood, he wasn't
moving, I...."  at this point Akane had broken down, and was
crying too hard to keep talking.  Ukyou did her best to try
and comfort her friend.
      ::I may be competing for Ran-chan with her, but she
needs a friend right now, not a rival.::  Shampoo sat there
nervously.  She wasn't exactly friends with Akane, but they
weren't deadly enemies either.  She simply watched as Ukyou
gently coaxed Akane back up to her room, where she could cry
in private.  Shampoo just smiled.
      ::This is good chance for Shampoo to nurse Ranma back
to health!::  She thought to herself.  She practically
leaped up the stairs, and was inside Ranma's room in a
flash, but there was no Ranma.
      "Aiyaah!  Where Ranma?"  She asked no-one in
particular.  Shampoo nearly jumped out of her skin when
Kasumi spoke from behind her.
      "Ranma said he was heading out for a little fresh air
and quiet." Kasumi smiled that disarming smile of hers.
::Aiyaah!! How she move so quiet?:: Shampoo thought.
      Kasumi smiled as Shampoo ran out of the house and
leapt over the wall to go looking for Ranma.  She turned and
finished walking down the hall to Akane's room.  Inside, she
handed a tray of snacks to Ukyou, who, with Ranma's help,
continued to try and coax Akane into calming down.  Kasumi
smiled and spoke.
      "Shampoo just left, she's looking for
a ghost right now."  Ukyou and Ranma turned and looked at
Kasumi in alarm.
      "What ghost?"  They asked in unison.
      "Why that ghost of Ranma who went out on a walk of
course!"  Kasumi smiled, while Ukyou and Ranma burst out
laughing.  When a third laugh joined them, they stopped and
turned to Akane.  She was dashing the last of her tears from
her eyes, and was laughing merrily at the little joke Kasumi
had played on Shampoo.  "Glad to see your feeling better
Akane!"  Kasumi said cheerfully as she left the room.
      "One of these days I'm going to have to learn how she
knows exactly how to say just the right thing at the right
time."  Ranma said, while Akane and Ukyou nodded in silent
agreement.  Then they all turned and talked about what had
happened, but it was mostly Ranma talking.  Later that
night, Ukyou bid them goodnight, and went back to her
restaurant.
      Early the next morning, Ryouga was waking up at his
campsite.  He teased the fire back to life, and started to
warm up some travel rations for breakfast. ::I guess I'd
better wake up Feather, she's been asleep since that night,
and she really needs to eat.:: He suited thought to action,
and opened up the tent.  Inside, he saw that Feather was
still sleeping soundly, and now that the makeup was wiped
off her face from two days of travel tied to his back, he
could see the bruises that she had spoken of.  He reached
towards her and shook her shoulder a bit.
      "Hey, wake up, I've got some food cooking outside."
He got no response.  Ryouga raised his voice a little, and
shook a little harder,  "Come on wake up already!"  Feather
stirred a little, and opened one eye.
      "Hmmmm...?"
      "It's time to get up Feather, I uh, have some food
ready outside."  Ryouga rubbed the back of his head self
consciously.
      "Mmmm, OK."  She closed her eye for a second, then
both eyes opened wide, and she looked at Ryouga.  "I'm not
dreaming right?  I'm free, right?"  She lunged out of the
sleeping bag and grabbed the front of Ryouga's shirt.  "Tell
me I'm not dreaming!  Please!"  Ryouga shrank back a little
from the almost teary face thrust into his.
      "Uh, yeah that's right!  Ranma and I beat the crap out
of that guy for you, and your free now.  I uh..."  Ryouga
was looking into her eyes.  ::I didn't know someone's eyes
could get that big, or that green!:: he thought, "Anyways, I
made some breakfast OK?"
      "Oh, OK.  Um, do you have any spare clothes I could
borrow?  These are really dirty."  She gestured towards the
blood stained dress.
      "Oh, yeah sure!  Just a sec."  Ryouga ducked out of
the tent and started rummaging through his pack.  Feather
had started struggling out of the dress when he reentered.
      "Here's my spare.. uuurrk!!!"  Ryouga fell backwards
with a nosebleed at the sight of Feather's bra covered
chest.  He recovered and turned quickly, "Hhhhere!!"  He
held out a set of clothes towards Feather while he had his
back turned to her, his other hand busy pinching his nose in
an effort to stop the flow of blood.  Feather giggled at how
shy he was. ::Now that's something you don't see anymore.  A
young man who doesn't gawk or grope...::  She took the
offered clothing.
      "Thanks, I'll get changed now and I'll be right out."
Feather gently pushed Ryouga out of the tent.  The clothes
fit her loosely, fortunately there were drawstrings and a
belt, along with two cords.  Feather shrugged and set about
tying the cords around her calves like she had seen what
Ryouga did with them.  She then joined Ryouga at the fire.
      "They fit pretty well, thanks Ryouga,"  she smiled at
him, "But do you have a spare bandanna or two?  I can't find
anything to tie my hair back with..."  She gaped a little as
he casually ripped two bandanna's off his head and handed
them to her.
      "Will those do?"  He blushed a little as he asked her.
      "How many bandannas are you wearing anyway?"  She
stammered as she tied her hair into a pony tail, and tied
one of the bandanna's around her forehead to keep her bangs
out of her eyes.  Except for her really long hair, she could
have been confused for Ryouga after falling into the
Nyannichuan.
      "Oh, I always have all that I need," Ryouga tried
intensely to just finish cooking the food.  ::You're in love
with Akane remember?  You don't need to go and fall for some
other girl right now,  you still have a chance idiot!::  He
thought to himself.  He scooped some of the food from the
pot into a travel mug and handed it to Feather.  "It's not
the greatest, but it will keep you fed."  He served himself
while Feather sniffed delicately at the food.
      "What's in it?"  She asked.
      "Dried vegetables, along with some strips of salted
meat that I boiled to make a soup.  Sorry, but I don't have
any rice with me."  Ryouga explained between bites of his
food.  Feather sniffed the food again, and then ate a
little.
      "This isn't that bad at all Ryouga.  I was expecting a
less gamy taste from the meat though, what kind of meat is
it anyways?"  She asked as she continued to eat the
surprisingly tasty food.
      "Rabbit."  was his only response.  Feather spat out
what was in her mouth.
      "Eww... Rabbit?!?  You cooked a rabbit?"
      "It's not that bad, beats the heck out of pork.  It's
leaner for one thing,"  ::and the other reason you'll never
hear from me willingly anyways!::  "Besides, I can't afford
dried beef, and fish doesn't keep as long."  Feather looked
appraisingly at the mug again, and sighed.
      "Sorry Ryouga, I guess I've been in the city too long,
and never even considered rabbit as food before."  She
continued to eat.
      "When you've traveled as much as I have, you learn a
bit about unconventional foods."  Ryouga shrugged, and
turned back to his soup.
      As soon they had finished eating, and were breaking
camp.  Rather, Ryouga was breaking camp, as Feather had no
clue as to what to do to help.  While Ryouga was working,
Feather looked around, and could barely see Tokyo off in the
distance.  ::Odd, you'd think he would've headed straight
back to where Akane and Ranma live.  Or did those reporters
chase us all the way out here?::
      "Feather!  It's time to go."  Ryouga called out,
looking about for her.  He spotted her nearby, standing on
the top of a hill.  He shouldered his pack and walked up to
her.  "Is something wrong?"  He asked.
      "Isn't that Tokyo over there?" She asked, pointing
towards the distant city.
      "Uh, I think so... We should go and find out."
      "You mean you don't know?!?"  Feather exclaimed.
      "Hey I was running around in the dark the night you
passed out, trying to get away from those reporters!"  He
practically shouted back.  "It's been a whole day since
then, and I've been trying to find my way back!"  Feather
cringed away from him, as if she was expecting a blow.
Ryouga noticed, and immediately softened his tone.  "I mean,
look, um... Hey I'm not going to hit you!  Sorry, I didn't
mean to yell at you OK?"  Ryouga started to fidget a little.
      "Oh, never mind, let's just head back there OK?"
Without another word, they started to trudge off towards the
city.  Occasionally, Ryouga would start to stray off course,
and Feather would grab his arm, worried that he was
distracted by something and was going to leave her alone out
there.  After the tenth time this happened, Feather decided
it was time to ask him something.
      "Ryouga, do you hate me or something?"  her sudden
question stopped Ryouga in his tracks.
      "No of course not!! What makes you say something like
that?"  He asked, wondering why she seemed so intent about
it.
      "It's just that, every now and then, you start to
wander off, as if you wanted to leave me out here or
something."  Feather looked down at the ground, grateful
that her hair hid her blushing face.  She thought she was
starting to like the rough cut young man in front of her,
and wasn't sure about what to do.
      "Oh, it's just that, well, I have a hard time getting
where I want to go sometimes.."  Ryouga stammered, not quite
willing to admit that he had absolutely no sense of
direction.
      "You mean... You have a bad sense of direction?"
      "Well, yeah, basically."  Ryouga looked away for a
second, a wistful look on his face.
      "I'll bet you get lonely wandering around Japan don't
you?"  Feather felt sorry for the lost boy.  She understood
now why he had grabbed his pack before they had left his
house.
      "Well, yeah, I do get lonely.  After I get lonely, I
get depressed.  Fate was cruel to curse me with this sense
of direction.  I can't even attend school regularly like
this."  He looked at Feather again.  "You must understand
how it feels, not having control of where you are going
don't you?"  His eyes were intensely pleading for
understanding.
      "Yeah, I know what you mean."  She leaned forward on
her toes and kissed Ryouga on the cheek.  He froze in shock,
a small trickle of blood running down from his nose.  "Right
now we need to get back, everyone must be worried about us
by now."
      They walked together in silence for a long time.
Clouds were starting to gather, and it looked like it was
going to rain.  Ryouga noticed the change in the weather
with apprehension.  He looked desperately about for shelter,
and realized that they were at the edge of a forest, but
there were no buildings in sight.
      "Looks like we better pitch camp a little early
Feather, I think it's going to rain in a bit.  I don't want
to... er, you to catch a cold."  Feather looked at Ryouga,
and wondered why he was sweating all of a sudden.
      "OK, maybe you could teach me a bit about camping
while were at it.  I mean, I have no idea how to do any of
it, and I want to be able to help."  Ryouga nodded absently
as he explained, and demonstrated how to pitch a tent.  He
was just in time, the first droplets of rain were staring to
fall, and he rushed inside the tent.  Feather followed and
fastened the tent flap closed.  They sat in silence and
listened to the rain beat down on the canvas tent.  It's
dull rhythm quickly lulled Feather to sleep.
::I think I better slow down a little, she just isn't used
to this...:: Ryouga thought as he looked at Feather's
exhausted form.
      After the rain had stopped, they peeked out of the
tent, and then broke camp and trudged into the woods.
Feather was too busy trying to keep them on track to notice
anything, but Ryouga seemed to sense someone, or several
people trying to follow them.  He kept his eyes roving the
underbrush, and his senses were on overdrive trying to
locate their pursuers.  Before he could figure out exactly
where they were, four fairly burly men jumped out of the
bushes around them.  Feather gave a startled cry and jumped
back to hold onto Ryouga's arm.
      "Let go!" He whispered to her urgently.  Feather
swallowed hard, but let go of his arm.
      "All right boy, give us the girl and ya won't be
hurt,"  one man sneered as he approached the young
travelers.  "All we want is the girl, and we'll let you run
home, in one piece.  If you don't see it that way, well,"
He flipped out a switchblade, and the others followed suit
by pulling out knives of various sizes.  Ryouga sized them
up and judged their approximate skill.  He was not impressed
at all.  Ryouga dropped his pack, and pulled his umbrella
from it's place atop it.
      "Sorry fellahs,"  He grinned wolfishly, "But I can't
let you do that."  He said simply before whipping his
umbrella around to connect with the head of the sneering
man.  The blow sent the man reeling sideways into a tree,
where he lay crumpled.  Ryouga spun and threw his umbrella
like a spear at the next closest man, and it smashed him in
the chest, knocking him off his feet.  The third man sprang
towards Ryouga, trying to stab him, but his wrist was caught
in a vise like grip.  Startled, the bandit looked at
Ryouga's hand as he started to squeeze.  The sound of
snapping bone crackled through the air, a split second
before a man screamed in agony.  Ryouga dropped him and
turned towards the last one.  With a determined expression,
the last man dropped into a basic karate stance.  Ryouga
adopted a similar stance and waited.  The bandit attacked
with what looked like an impressive flurry of kicks and
punches, however, after Ryouga dodged a few and blocked a
couple of them he decided it was time to end it.  Ryouga
smashed through the bandit's defenses with a single, open
palm strike to his chest, followed by several quick kicks to
his head, followed by a fierce one into his gut.  As the man
leaned forward from the blow, Ryouga grabbed him around the
neck and threw him into a tree.  He collapsed and did not
stir again.  A few of the men were getting back up at this
point, so Ryouga turned to them.
      "I'm a little irritated right now, who wants to help
me work it off?"  Ryouga bared his fangs as he picked up a
nearby rock and broke it to gravel in one hand.  The bandits
didn't even bother grabbing their fallen comrades, they just
ran.  Feather was still standing next to Ryouga's pack.  She
was amazed at how easily Ryouga beat up those men.  Once
they were back on their way, Feather turned to Ryouga.
      "Where did you learn how to do that?"  She asked.
      "Oh, I picked a lot of it up on the road, and from
fighting with Ranma all the time."  Ryouga shrugged.  "I've
been training for a long time now, and I'm still nowhere
near reaching mastery.  Someday though, I may become a
master of martial arts, but my style is fairly unique, as it
draws the most brutal moves from more than twenty styles,
and uses some unusual weapons,"  he gestured at his
umbrella, "So, I think I'm starting a new school of martial
arts right now.  But I know my skill is not great enough for
me to claim a mastery.  Besides, until I can beat Ranma, I
have no right to start my own school."
      Feather looked at him, and saw that he was holding his
left fist clenched and raised.
"That's cool Ryouga, but can I ask you a favor?"  Ryouga
looked over his shoulder at Feather, "Could you teach me?"
      Ryouga stopped in his tracks.  Feather walked around
to stand in front of him.  "Well?"  She asked eagerly,  "I
want to be able to defend myself from now on!  Please, will
you teach me?" She put on her cutest face, hoping that it
would make him cave in to her request.  Ryouga looked down
at her face, and saw her lower lip start to quiver a little.
He melted like a snowball in a blast furnace.
      "Ah, heh OK sure." Ryouga stammered out nervously.
Feather squealed with delight and glomped onto Ryouga,
causing him to almost pass out.  "Ah uhm.. First things
first though, a little strength training.."  Ryouga
suggested, and to his relief, she disentangled herself from
him.
      "OK, what do I do first?"  Ryouga pulled his umbrella
out from it's retaining straps, and held it out to Feather.
      "Carry this for a while."  He said simply.  Feather
strode forward and tried to take the umbrella.  When she
thought she had it, Ryouga let go, and the weight of the
umbrella dropped her onto her backside.
      "Hey that's no fair!  You could've warned me that it's
made of lead!"  Feather yelled at Ryouga as she struggled to
get up.  Ryouga watched as she slowly stood up, umbrella
wrapped tightly in her arms. Ryouga repositioned the
umbrella so that it was cradled in the crook of her arms.
He stepped away from her while she strained to keep her arms
from collapsing from the deceptive weight of the umbrella.
"OK, now what?"  she puffed out.
      "Now we walk."  Ryouga said, as he turned to walk into
the forest.
      "Not that way Ryouga!  Tokyo is this way!  Honestly,
he can beat up people with the greatest of ease, but can't
find his way home."  She muttered to herself as she once
again took the lead.  After a short time, Feather's arms
went numb, and she dropped the umbrella.  Ryouga turned at
the noise, and smiled at Feather.
      "Now we do push ups."  Ryouga dropped, and did about
thirty push ups while still wearing his pack.  "Do as many
as you can without going to your knees Feather."  After only
a few pushups, she collapsed into the dirt.  "Now do as many
as you can from your knees."  Ryouga prodded a bit to get
her moving again.  This time she did a few more before
collapsing.  "OK Feather, now we are going to do sit-ups.."
For most of the day, Ryouga had Feather doing calisthenics,
and other exercise to start training her in martial arts.
He then showed her some of the basic moves.
      By the time night fell, Feather was completely
exhausted.  They had only done some basic moves and stances,
but Ryouga was encouraging her like she was trying to master
a difficult technique.  When Ryouga called it quits for the
night, Feather collapsed against a tree, and watched as
Ryouga tirelessly set up the camp.  ::How does he just keep
on going like that?:: she thought, ::He fights a battle,
carries all this insanely heavy stuff, and matches me
exercise for exercise, and still moves easily at the end of
the day::
      "Just how strong are you Ryouga?"  Feather asked as
Ryouga casually picked up a rather large rock to make room
for the tent.
      "Um, I'm not sure."  He dropped the rock, and rubbed
the back of his head, "But I did tear a telephone pole out
of the ground once."  Feather was shocked into silence at
that, and Ryouga continued to set up camp.
      They stayed at that spot for several days.   While
foraging for food, Feather came across a stream, and offered
to clean their clothes.  Ryouga hid in the tent while
Feather strode around the woods nymph-like, to attend to
cleaning the clothes, and herself.  She did pop her wings
out of her back, and used them as a kind of cloak.  It
didn't do much for keeping her rear warm, but it did do a
lot for her modesty.   Once the clothes were dry again,
Ryouga continued to train Feather in martial arts.  She was
clumsy and slow at first, but as she gained confidence, her
form improved.  Even if she was still no match for most
martial artists, she could probably hold her own against an
unskilled opponent.  By the end of the week, their food
supply was running low, and Feather said she desperately
needed a good long, hot bath.  They closed up the camp, and
started to run for what they thought was Tokyo.  Little did
they know, they were approaching Osaka..
      Three weeks had passed, and there was still no sign of
Ryouga or Feather at the Tendo dojo.  Akane and Ranma were
sparring in the dojo itself.  Ranma's leg had healed
quickly, and he had had Dr. Tofu remove the stitches a few
days ago, and now it seemed that his leg was fully healed.
Ranma was jumping around the inside of the dojo like some
kind of insane grasshopper, while Akane was trying her best
to keep up, and maybe get a hit in, but he was just too
fast.
      After a little while, they stopped.  Sitting on the
steps to the dojo, they heard the sound of impending doom.
Bicycle bells.  Suddenly very nervous, Ranma was looking
around, but he saw nothing.  Then they heard the bell again.
Ranma jumped forward suddenly and rolled across the lawn.
In the place he had just vacated, Shampoo had landed with
her bike.
      "Nihau Ranma!"  She jumped off her bike, and ran
towards Ranma, "Ranma, you take Shampoo on date, yes?  Leg
all better now, so show Shampoo a good time yes?"  She
fluttered her eyelashes at him.
      "Aw come on Shampoo, you know I'm not interested,"
Ranma said while backing up, holding up his hands, trying
his best to ward her off, and hoping that Akane wouldn't
blow her top.
      "Wo ai ni!" Shampoo said as she glomped tightly onto
Ranma.
      "Come on Shampoo, get offa me!"  Ranma saw Akane
approaching angrily, "No wait Akane!  It's not what it looks
like, she just keeps grabbing onto me!  I swear I didn't do
nothing!"  He tries desperately to pull away from Shampoo,
to no avail.  He sweats nervously as he watches Akane slowly
summon her mallet from hammer-space, and heft it with a
wicked looking scowl.
      "Will you stop doing that!!"  She screams as she
flattens Ranma with her mallet.  And, almost as an
afterthought, she tried to flatten Shampoo as well, but the
amazon had jumped clear.
      "What you do that for?  Shampoo only want to be with
husband!  Him all better now, so Shampoo want have date with
him!  Violent girl have problem hmmmm?"  Shampoo closed her
eyes and stuck her tongue out at Akane.  When she opened her
eyes she realized she had made a mistake.  All she could see
was the heavy end of the hammer coming towards her too hard
and too fast to avoid. "Aiyaaa!!!!"  Shampoo screamed as
Akane's swing sent Shampoo flying into the distance.
"Hmmph, serves you right!"  Akane said to Shampoo's quickly
disappearing form.
      Catlike, Shampoo twisted in midair, and landed on her feet.
::How Akane get good all of sudden?::  Shampoo wondered to
herself as she started walking towards the Nekohanten.  She
was so lost in her thoughts, she turned a corner and ran
into someone.  "Oh!  Shampoo so sorry, didn't see you...
Ryouga?!?"  Shampoo's eyes had practically bugged out of her
head, when she thought she had run into a female version of
Ryouga.  "When you fall in Nyannichuan?  Shampoo thought you
fall in spring of drown black piglet?"
      "Ah, I'm sorry, I think there's been a mistake, you
see I'm not Ryouga."  Feather giggled at the look on
Shampoo's face.  "I'm his student, Feather"  She bowed
politely to Shampoo, who was still too stunned to react.
"As for the clothes, well I didn't have anything
presentable, so he loaned these to me."
      "But you have Ryouga pack, and umbrella.  Where Ryouga
at?"
      Feather held up a little black pig that had a resigned
look on his face.  "Right here, an old woman splashed him on
our way, and I haven't gotten him any hot water yet."
Feather giggled as she hugged P-chan to her chest, causing a
slight nosebleed.  Feather had found out about Ryouga's
curse along their "Training journey" and found it quite
amusing.  Plus P-chan was just too cute!
      "Aiyaah, you girl Ranma rescue a month ago?" Feather
nodded, "You no look like you have wings.."  Shampoo crossed
her arms skeptically, "You sure wings not prop bad man glue
on back?  Shampoo no fool."  Feather giggled as she put down
Ryouga's pack.
      "Here, I'll show you..."  Feather arched her back for
effect, and was satisfied by the shocked expression on
Shampoo's face when her deep purple wings shot out of her
back.  Fortunately, she was wearing Ryouga's sleeveless
muscle shirt, and it's neck was large enough to become
basically backless.  Of course, Feather had carefully used
the belt to secure it that way.
      "Aiyah!  That neat trick, where you learn to do that?"
Shampoo asked, amazed.  Feather blushed and looked away.
      "I'd rather not talk about it, OK?" She said in a low
tone.  "It's not something I like to think about."  Trying
to change the subject, Feather looked back at Shampoo,
"Anyway, could you tell me how to get to the Tendo dojo from
here?  I'm still a little lost from running around with
Ryouga for so long."  Her stomach chose this moment to
complain about being empty.  Feather looked embarrassed
while Shampoo giggled.
      "Why not you come to Nekohanten with Shampoo?  Feed
you good food in exchange for talk about what happen to you
recently!"  Shampoo said smiling, "Maybe you tell Shampoo
whole story yes?"
      "Well, maybe.  No pork OK?" Feather said while P-chan
nodded vigorously.  This made Shampoo giggle.
      "No pork, Shampoo promise!"  She said as she turned to
lead Feather to the Nekohanten.  "Shampoo also think it good
idea to drop pig in bath.  Keep great-grandmother from
trying to cook him again."  Shampoo giggled at the memory.
Feather Giggled as well.  It did not take them long to reach
the Nekohanten.  When Shampoo opened the door, they noticed
that it was empty, save a shriveled old woman that appeared
to be sitting on the counter.
      "Great-grandmother, I home!"  Shampoo called out.
"Shampoo also bring girl that Husband rescue, and Ryouga.
They hungry, so Shampoo invite them for dinner!"  Cologne
looked over at Feather appraisingly.  Feather flushed a
little at the scrutiny the old woman gave her, so she tried
to cover it up by bowing.
      "It's an honor to meet you, ancient one."  Feather
said as she bowed.  Cologne chuckled a little.
      "Seems she knows her manners, oh but where's mine?
Come in and have a seat."  She gestured with her ever
present staff towards a chair near the counter.
      "Um, could I get some hot water for Ryouga?  He feels
a-lot better about being human during meals"
      "Certainly child.  Shampoo!"  She commanded, "Go fetch
the kettle, and a towel."
      "Yes great-grandmother" Shampoo scurried off to obey
the order.
      "Now young lady, what's your name?"  Cologne puffed at
her pipe briefly, "And please, tell me your story."  Feather
started to recount her tale to Cologne.  During the story,
Shampoo returned with a kettle for Ryouga.  After he had
changed back, Ryouga scrambled into his clothes as quickly
as possible.  When Feather was about halfway done, Shampoo
returned from the kitchen with some Dim-sum and rice.
Feather stopped talking to wolf down the food.
      "Ah, that was delicious!"  Feather exclaimed after
clearing her plate.  Ryouga only nodded his agreement, as he
was still eating.  Feather finished telling her story to
Cologne over some tea.
      "So, Ryouga took it upon himself to train you,"
Feather nodded, her eyes shining, "How good have you gotten
so far?"  Cologne looked at Feather appraisingly.  Feather
blushed at the scrutiny, but she still answered.
      "I've gotten a lot better since we started.  Ryouga
doesn't chide me for messing up my katas anymore, and I'm a
lot more flexible.  Not to mention stronger."
"In other words, you feel your still a rank beginner"
      "That's rather blunt, but yes.  I'm nowhere near as
good as Ryouga right now," She perked up a little, "But I'm
a fast learner!"
      "Care to have me appraise your skill?  I'd like to see
just how well a once-time student of mine can train
someone."  Without waiting for an answer, Cologne hopped out
the back on her staff.  Feather followed, with Ryouga and
Shampoo close behind.  Feather absently wondered exactly how
good such an old woman could be as she made her way to the
backyard.
      Feather and Cologne faced off in the yard, and Feather
decided she would need to stretch a little before the match.
After a few stretches, Feather faced Cologne and bowed.
Cologne merely raised an eyebrow.  This irritated Feather a
little, as she dropped into an offensive stance.  Feather
tried to sweep the staff out from under the old woman, and
was surprised when her opponent was no longer there.
Cologne landed on the back of Feather's head, and hopped
away.
      "Why you!"  Feather turned quickly to face her
opponent, the back of her head smarting from the blow.
Feather tried to fake a low kick, in order to lure her
opponent into a punch, but Cologne merely sweeped her feet
out from under her.  Feather rolled backwards and stood
quickly, looking for a follow up blow.
      "Don't overbalance like that,"  Cologne admonished,
"You left yourself wide open."  Feather rushed the old
woman, and tried to hit her with a rapid series of punches.
Cologne's staff became a blur, and every single blow was
blocked.  Cologne popped up right in the face of her
opponent and tapped her forehead with her staff.  Feather
flew backwards, and looked as if she would smash into the
wall.  However, she snapped her wings out and used them to
brake, and flip over to land on her feet.   Just as quick as
she had brought them out, she had dismissed them.  Cologne
raised an eyebrow at this.
      "Interesting, you could use those to a possible advantage,
but would rather fight on what you think are even terms
then?"  Feather merely nodded, as she was starting to breath
heavily.  Cologne launched herself at Feather, and attacked
rapidly with her staff.  Feather tried desperately to dodge
all the blows, but was not doing that well.  Cologne slammed
Feather to the ground with her staff.  With a quick roll,
Feather was behind the old woman, and she attempted a
desperate attack.  Cologne didn't even turn around, but she
blocked or dodged all of the attacks.  Feather took a few
steps back, and collapsed to her knees in defeat.
      "Well now, you didn't to that badly," Cologne said,
hopping over to the exhausted girl.  Ryouga had also stood
and moved next to Feather.
      "Didn't do that bad?!?"  Feather practically shouted,
"I didn't even come close to hitting you, and you say not
bad?"
      "Considering you've been training for less than a month, and
having never trained before in your life, I must say that
you have gained a fair amount of skill in such a short time"
Her tone was sharp, and Feather looked up from the ground.
"You have potential, but you are way too slow!  You're
little trick with your wings proved that you are capable of
thinking quickly, now you need to apply that to your body as
well."  Feather nodded slowly, the blood still roaring in
her ears from the first blow.  Cologne turned to Ryouga,
"Not bad Ryouga, not bad at all.  Have her come back here in
another month or so, and I'll see how well she is making
progress,"  Ryouga gaped at Cologne for a second, as if he
couldn't believe she had complimented him on his teaching.
"You may want to have her train under Ranma for a bit of
work on her speed.  Her basic forms are spot on, but they
don't seem to be coming naturally to her.  Don't be afraid
to push her to her limits!"  Ryouga nodded, "Now, why don't
we go in and freshen up.  I'm afraid you don't smell that
ladylike right now Feather."  Feather blushed fiercely as
she stood and went inside.
      About an hour or so later, Ryouga and Feather strode
away from the Nekohanten.  After they had walked a few
blocks, Feather spoke, "So, you actually trained under her
for a while?"
      Ryouga nodded, "It was rigorous training for a
technique known as Bauksai-tenketsu, or the breaking point.
It was a difficult technique to learn, and even after going
through that training, Ranma still beat me."
      "You really have a grudge against Ranma huh?  You two
seemed to get along fine that night..."  Feather looked
thoughtful as they continued walking.
      "Ranma has been the source of limitless suffering to
me, first he ran out on his duel to China, then he knocked
me into Jusenkyo, and even that wasn't enough for him!  Now
he stands between me and Akane!"  Ryouga clenched his teeth.
"But even after all that, I'm beginning to think that I
fight with Ranma because he's the only other one around that
is around my level of ability"  Ryouga looked towards the
sky, "You know, when we were in junior high, he used to lead
me back and forth from school.  That was the only time in my
life I felt even close to being like other normal guys"
Ryouga closed his eyes to better see his memories.  "But the
solitude after he left was too much to bear, and not only
that, but we didn't have our fight."
      "What about your parents?  Weren't they around for
you?"  Feather asked with some concern in her voice.  Ryouga
sadly shook his head.
      "They get lost just as easily as I do.  I was lucky to
see them once or twice a month.   I haven't seen my father
in over a year now, and just about the same for mom."
Ryouga opened his eyes and looked forward with
determination.  "That hasn't hurt as much since I met Akane.
Before I met her, I was sure that no girl would ever look my
way.  They used to always laugh at me because I got lost,
but Akane has never laughed at me for that..."
      "Man, the way you keep going on and on about Akane
you'd think you had a crush on her"  Feather laughed at
this, but was silenced by the desperate look on Ryouga's
face. "Aww Ryouga, don't take it so hard"  She stopped
Ryouga.  They were standing on a grassy hillside,
overlooking Furinkan High.  A gentle breeze blew, causing
Feather's red locks to swirl around her.  "There is at least
one other girl out there that your a great guy"  she said as
she looked him in the eye.
      "Huh?  Who?  I don't know anyone else who thinks like
that about me."  Ryouga asked, startled, and starting to get
nervous.
      Feather leaned forward and hugged Ryouga, "You big
dummy, I'm talking about me"  She hugged him tightly and
kissed him on the lips, and at the same time, pinched his
nose so he wouldn't bleed all over her.  Ryouga didn't get a
nosebleed, but he did promptly faint. "Dummy"  Feather
whispered again as she sat down next to his crumpled form to
watch the sunset.


                   End of Chapter 2

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