I'm Ranko Kiima

By E-Type.

Herein lies the Disclaimer. I don't own any of the characters portrayed in this story, I just borrowed them for a little while. Their respective owners can have them back when I'm done. No money is going to be made off of this anyway.

Chapter 1

Ranma sat before a huge birthday cake. He was alone in the forest's of China, leaning back against a tree, staring at the 16 candles, their tiny flames dancing before his gaze.

His father had found a town of women who were all chefs and had gone wild. Then he discovered they were all training in a martial art, most food related and all of them formidable.

Once the women realized just what kind of man Ranma's father was he was quickly subdued. In a rare act of a true martial artist he fought to keep his son free.

Then Ranma found the note Genma had stuffed into his pocket. It told the youngest Saotome all about his mother and why Genma had married her, implying Ranma should be looking for the same thing in a wife.

It also said that he was getting a divorce so he could become the taste tester for the village. Ranma knew that he wasn't going to see his father again no matter what those women decided to do to him.

He now realized that Genma had thrown Ranma over the wall simply to make sure he was the only one in the village capable of actually eating the offering of ever cook in the village.

Ranma was happy that he knows a bit about his mother, but it was now up to him alone to continue his training as he saw fit, and it was up to him alone to get himself back to Japan. Ranma, however, wanted to keep going in China, wanted to finish this trip before calling it quits and heading for home.

That was a couple months ago. He was finally starting to become fluent in Chinese, able to get around on his own, simply following the guide book. He had already made a note to avoid Jusenkyo, though the Amazons nearby sounded promising. The Musk didn't sound like they would help him at all and he resolved to avoid them as well.

The legendary Phoenix people, however, he was determined to find. He had to come up with a counter to Ryoga, and fire was the first thing that came to mind. If the legend had any truth to it at all he'd be set.

He wasn't sure where the lost boy had been taught his technique, but he had learned it well. While he had been a little on the depressed and obsessive side, his attitude had changed for the better. No longer a danger to himself and those around him, and able to find his way when he had someplace to go, Ryoga had become a very good friend.

The only problem was Ranma couldn't beat him anymore. This was unacceptable. Ryoga agreed with him and had recommended China as a good place to train. Ranma had tried to find out if that was where Ryoga had been trained, but the former lost boy had been sworn not to reveal that information, for getting there was half the test.

So Ranma had set out to research any and all information on even the most esoteric or ridiculous technique. He had found an amazing amount of information on a mind boggling amount of forms, both practical and not.

Ranma set out to learn as many of them as possible, excited to see how much he had to learn, how strong he could be.

He traveled for six months with a great many successes, soaking up and perfecting techniques almost as fast as he could locate the masters who knew them. By then he had reached the Byencalla mountain range, home of several legends, rumors and the Amazons.

Having been told many different things about them from just about everybody he had run across, Ranma was unsure of which one to believe. He figured he'd just stay at the outskirts and see what they were really about before revealing himself. At least, that was the plan.

He was going to take a round about way to get there, trying to scare up some legends. He also had some moves he wanted to work on some more, he needed to bring them up to the level of the rest of his moves. Or maybe he could work on his strength and endurance up in this thin mountain air with the many heavy rocks strewn about.

Starting his trek up the mountainside Ranma found a boulder that weighed about 250 pounds and strapped it to his back. It weighed him down enough that he was straining after a few seconds of running. He knew it was the perfect size. His lungs burned after an hour of walking as he made steady progress up the incline.

After most of the day Ranma was feeling the strain and knew he was going to have to break for lunch and a rest pretty soon. He cleared a particularly steep bit, comprised of huge boulders and loose dirt and came upon a small clearing, the entrance to a cave.

Ranma nodded to himself, as the location was perfect. Now all he had to do was set up a fire to cook some food. Sitting for a minute to regain his strength after unstrapping the boulder, Ranma set off to gather some firewood from some trees he had spied not far from his current location.

Several minutes later he had a happy little blaze going, a steaming pot supported above it containing his lunch. The pleasant smell indicated his food was just about done when he sensed somebody was watching him.

He glanced around a minute as he pinpointed his watchers location and wondered how in the world the person had gotten that far up the handholdless rock spire. He had to find out how they trained if they could jump that high. Or even cling to rock good enough to scamper up.

"Hey up there!" Ranma called out in Japanese, his hand cupped around his mouth. Might as well start with the language he knew better. "Whatchya hiding for?"

His only response was the whistling wind. Ranma opened his mouth again, just as the breeze died and a calm descended, and he paused just long enough to hear a stomach rumble.

"Whoa," Ranma stated. That was as bad as he sometimes got. He glanced over at the food he had bubbling over the fire and did something his father never did. Share. "Hey, you want some of this? I have enough for two." What he would do for a friend.

Another growl was half drowned out by the returning wind. Several moments passed before Ranma saw movement. A huge feathered wing, gleaming white, peaked out from behind the spire.

Ranma's eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. That was a mighty big bird. He was amazed that it had understood him. Or maybe it hadn't and was going to try and steal his meal.

The pigtailed martial artist dropped into his stance, almost anticipating the coming battle. His aerial skills against a true master of the sky.

The wings flapped mightily, kicking up a cloud of dust that obscured Ranma's vision. His other sense's came to the fore and tracked the beast as it approached. He was confused, as his senses were telling him that this was no instinctual animal.

His eyes squinted against the sandblasting, Ranma strained all his senses, anticipating an attack before he regained his eyesight. The being made a soft thump as it touched down, startling the young man as it remained motionless. He blinked his eyes open at the same moment he heard a captivating feminine voice.

"You really wish to share your meal with me?" The angel asked in Japanese (surprising since he was in China), desperate hope shining in her bright blue eyes that almost made Ranma cry to see in one so kind and beautiful in appearance.

"Of course you can have some," he told her with a friendly smile. "Help yourself."

Ranma walked over and quickly produced another bowl. As the young woman approached several things became obvious, despite how hard they should have been to miss in the first place.

She had wings. Massive, beautiful, impossible, soft, feathered wings, folding themselves down her back. The next thing he noticed was what had first caught his attention.

Her blue eyes sparkled with relief and joy as she approached to retrieve the offered eating implements. Ranma's eye traveled outward from there, her vibrant red hair attracting his gaze next. The magenta locks cascaded down her back, over her shoulders, and framed her face. As she was almost directly in front of him now, he realized she was a short girl, the top of her head coming just high enough for him to comfortably rest his chin upon.

She held out her hand to receive the bowl and Ranma took notice of her clothes. A rather revealing dress adorned her, looking as if it was made for a much taller woman. Some cleavage was revealed as the neckline plunged rather dramatically, though the material was crumpled and obviously not showing its wearer as it had been intended. The waist was tight, showing off her hips and thighs, as the skirt was merely a flap to cover her front and back, the slits on either side running all the way up to her waist and showing what a luscious pair of legs she had.

The winged woman seemed to be unaware of the awed gaze upon her. Ranma reached out his own hand to give her the bowl and their fingertips brushed.

The redhead's eyes opened wide as she felt a shock run through her. She could see the young man's were enlarged in surprise as well.

"W-what was that?" Ranma breathed, not wanting to speak normally and break the spell they were currently under as they stared into each other's eyes.

"I-I don't know," she said. "But I want it to happen again."

Ranma nodded in agreement, their hands starting towards one another in mutual desire.

Just before they could touch a bonbori slammed down between them, pelting them with small rocks. Ranma winced in sympathy as the redhead grimaced in pain.

The pair jumped away from each other in surprise. The winged woman got her speech back first.

"SHAMPOO! What the hell are you doing?" She screeched.

Ranma's blinked in mild confusion before he made the connection. The new girl's name was Shampoo? How odd.

Shampoo sported long purple hair, a cute face and a voluptuous body encased in a form fitting and very short red Chinese dress. She also had two bonbori held in a threatening manner, directed at Ranma.

"Who you?" she said in a serious voice, though it was obvious she hadn't settled down yet into a mature woman's voice, as it was as cute as her face, spoiling the serious mood she had been going for. Strangely she also spoke Japanese, though from just those two words Ranma could tell she hadn't been doing it for very long.

Ranma guessed the two women knew each other, but wondered at how a winged woman had met what appeared to be an Amazon. He had gotten a fairly accurate description of them from various sources. Adding them all together equaled Shampoo. Ranma really, REALLY wanted to get on that girl's good side. He had heard so much about fabled Amazon techniques that were equaled no where else in the world.

He had been told that the women only took females on as students, but Ranma was determined to learn from them, like he had done everywhere else. Ranma had learned from several masters that were supposedly very strict and/or impossible to get lessons from. Yet he had done it, and he had full confidence that the Amazons would be no different.

Back to the question at hand. "My name's Ranma Saotome, Shampoo." He used her name, as it usually threw people off if you used it before they introduced themselves.

Shampoo blinked in shock. He knew her? She hadn't ever seen him around the village, and she was certain to remember a boy like him.

Ranma could see the confusion in her eyes, though her expression never changed. His respect for her went up a couple notches. Still aware and ready to fight despite being shocked. She was somebody he'd like to fight.

The winged woman turned to her companion, waving her arms in a placating manner. "That's right, his name's Ranma and he's my new friend. Now pleeeeease don't try and kill him?"

Ranma grew a little concerned at that. While beating people up was something he could understand, killing them was going a little too far in his book.

Shampoo saw the unease in his eyes and smirked. "Weak male," she thought to herself.

Then her stomach rumbled at an impressive volume and she dropped her weapons, crossing her arms over her offending abdomen in obvious hunger pains. Shampoo looked at her smirking friend and scowled, her eyes lingering on the bowl of food in her hand.

"Ranko, don't mess with me. I've had a really bad day I don't want it to get any worse," the Amazon growled in Chinese.

Ranko snorted and replied in the same language, switching over from the Japanese she had been using before. "Shampoo, we've both had really bad months, don't go complaining to me how bad your day has been."

Shampoo shook her head. "You and Kiima's months are a little off, remember?"

The redhead snorted. "So what's a few hundred years in the overall scheme of misery?"

Ranma decided to break in here, thinking about the Amazons and how he might get at least this girl to show him some moves. "I think I have enough food for both of you if you don't mind me asking a few questions."

The two girls exchanged a rather significant look, one Ranma was able to see now that he had spent so much time studying everybody around him at all times, instead of just during fights.

Even though he had already agreed to feed Ranko, both girls turned to him at the same time and nodded. "Alright, but just a few questions." Strangely, neither girl seemed surprised at all that he was fluent in both Japanese and Chinese. Then again, so were they.

Ranma agreed, having no idea how many questions a "few" were. He'd just ask as many as he could get away with.

Ranma sweatdropped as the two girls stuffed their faces. While he had his own questionable eating habits, he generally tried to eat as quickly as possible while still being able to taste everything. The girls didn't seem to care about that, merely going for as much volume at a time as they could manage.

While he could understand that if they hadn't eaten for a couple days, he figured they would savor every bite, not gorge themselves. Besides, he couldn't even ask any questions with the way they were going.

Settling in to wait, Ranma scarfed his food down at the normal rate as he marveled at their technique.

A few minutes later three dirty plates sat beside their respective owners, not a trace of food anywhere in the campsite. Ranma was happy that there had somehow been enough food for all. He hadn't thought he had gotten that much, but he wasn't going to question this rare bit of good luck.

Ranko and Shampoo sat, patting their full bellies in contentment. Ranma sat across them, waiting patiently with his satiated, though not full, stomach.

"So, you is going to ask questions?" Shampoo broke the silence in Japanese this time, seeming to startle nature around them as the random animal sounds and wind died off suddenly.

The threesome looked around a bit worried. "That doesn't sound good," Ranma muttered.

He glanced back at the girls and blinked in surprise at the transformation that had overtaken them.

Shampoo was glancing around, death flickering in her red eyes, an expression that Ranma had seen a few too many times in his travels. Ranko was putting on a brave front, but Ranma could tell she wasn't used to combat by the way she trembled.

"So what's chasing you?" Ranma quietly asked, following Shampoo's example and speaking in Japanese.

"That is only question," Shampoo growled.

Ranma stood up and walked over next to the girls, wondering what this was all about. When he was three steps away a chain shot out of a bush to his right.

Ranma noted with some surprise that Shampoo, instead of reaching forward to deflect the chain like he would have expected, turned and grabbed the redhead, drawing her away and to the ground to make a harder target for whoever was throwing deadly chains to hit.

Ranma reached over and grabbed the offending projectile, using some quick wrist action to redirect it back to where it had come from. There was a loud yelp followed by some cursing and then three more chains exploded from the bush, spiraling around each other in a way not possible.

Ranma smiled as he saw the challenge coming. If that first chain hit, but didn't cause permanent damage, he would have to put a bit more effort into it and find out who's behind this. Especially as to the reason the obviously very capable Shampoo was hiding.

Ranma concentrated as the length of chain continued shooting out from the bush, throwing leaves and twigs widely, causing more visual distractions.

Ranma was up to the challenge, though his wrists were a bit sore from how quickly he had to rotate them around the chains to return fire.

He glanced over his shoulder and noticed that Shampoo and Ranko were laying on the ground in a rather suggestive position, though the both of them were looking at him with curious expressions. It made him wonder why they weren't looking scared in the least if they were hiding.

Several more "Ow's!" came from the bush. Ranma thought something might now change in the fight since he had established his superiority. He was right as the bush shredded into pieces, spiked chains flying in a solid wall. Ranma was suitably impressed. He wondered how long that would take him to duplicate.

It sure looked impressive, though it was completely useless against somebody fast enough.

"Psst!" Ranma looked to the side in surprise, wondering what in the world those two girls could want in the middle of the fight.

"If you want to do this the quick way, get 'em over here," Shampoo stage whispered.

Ranma wondered what in the world kind of attack they could pull off hugging each other on the ground like that. Oh well, he would find out, and hopefully learn something, soon enough.

Concentrating for a moment, Ranma used his ki to pull anything of sufficient density towards himself, using one of the techniques he had picked up over his travels.

Small waves of power surfaced around his hands, and a startled squawk sounded from the wall of metal, along with the two girls laying on the ground. Why was she so surprised by that? She is an Amazon, she should have special moves that would make his magnetism seem like child's play.

A moment of concentration made the ball of chains fly over to him. Ranma brought his leg up as it neared, hooked it with his toe, then slammed the mass into the ground with enough force to embed it a couple of feet.

Ranma reached into the now non moving chains and dug around, idly noting the expressions on the two girls faces and wondering why they looked so shocked. He hadn't done anything really amazing yet.

"Ah ha!" Ranma shouted as he finally pulled the figure out of the chains. He was startled to be holding a shapely young women gasping for air as if she had just been rescued from drowning in a pool of water.

He simply held her up in complete surprise for a few seconds before words formed. "Who are you?" He asked in Chinese, seeing as she looked from around here.

The girl stopped squirming and turned her head to stare at him. "What do you mean, 'who are you'?"

Ranma blinked. "You no understand Chinese, lady?" He asked in intentionally broken Japanese.

He almost dropped her from the level of the glare he received at that. "What do I look like, American?"

Ranma shrugged, having completely missed the continued bugging of the prone girls' eyes.

"Er, no, but I wasn't really paying attention to that." Using a bit of reverse psychology he then said, "why should I care who you are?"

The girl drew herself up to her full height, quite a feat when being hung by the back of your neck. "I am Shin-Li Xiang, sibling of the beautiful, great and wonderful Chun-Li Xiang!"

Ranma blinked some more. "And I'm Ranma Saotome, what's your point?"

The girl's eyes filled with stars. "You're Ranma Saotome, the famous wanderer?"

Ranma was on a blinking spree. He did it some more. "Famous? I'm not famous. I don't even know anybody famous, I've been running around Japan and China for the past few years, doing what I can."

"Ha, you really are him!" Shin said gleefully. "Will you show me some more of your legendary impossible techniques?"

"They're not impossible. I was told they'd take me a lifetime to master, but the only thing I need to build on is the strength of my ki. Otherwise I seem to be picking them up just fine."

Shin-Li turned towards the other two women and opened her mouth to speak again when Shampoo and Ranko attacked.

It was a devastating move, one Ranma had no defense against either. A spray of blood erupted from both his and Shin-Li's noses', the two collapsing flat on their backs in a dead faint.

Ranko and Shampoo finally broke their French kiss and looked over at the pair. "It worked, as always," Ranko commented.

"Very true," Shampoo agreed. Though she couldn't remember when in their adventures they had stopped wiping their mouths in a show of disgust after they had finished trading saliva. In fact, they were still in that intimate embrace and quite comfortable all snuggled up like this.

The two slowly pulled apart, the both of them acutely aware of the others warm body as they rubbed and pressed together. Every time the two women used that attack against Shin-Li strange feelings and emotions welled up within them, but they refused to look at what it was they were really feeling.

"We better leave before Shin-Li wakes up," Ranko said, sticking with Mandarin now that Shin-Li was out of it. The girl had a much harder time understanding Japanese, so that was one of the reasons they had been using it so much.

Shampoo pointed. "What about Ranma?"

The Amazon clucked her tongue at the look Ranko gave the pigtailed martial artist. She knew that look all too well. A crush had formed, and the only thing Shampoo could do was hope it didn't blossom or be returned.

Even though Ranko hadn't said anything, the expression on her face was all the answer Shampoo needed. "All right, we'll take him with us. At least he's not too tall."

Ranko looked over at her fellow shapely female in surprise. "He grew on you too, huh? Ranma sure is a great guy."

Shampoo snorted. "You think that now, but I know males. You'll change your tune pretty soon, I guarantee."

Ranko grew concerned. "What happened to you, Shampoo?"

Shampoo grumbled before casting a significant glance at the two unconscious teens. "Later. We leave now."

Through long practice Ranko turned and had the unconscious female tied up and gagged in under a minute. Shampoo pulled out a couple of swords from nowhere and started creating a rather obvious trail down the mountain side.

Once completed she returned and, between the two of them, managed to hoist Ranma onto their shoulders and make good time in the opposite direction of the distraction she had made.

In the very next clearing farther up the mountain and slightly left of the previous one the threesome stopped and quickly put up their tent. After a few minutes they managed to get Ranma's up as well and threw him in it. A quick scouting of the area had all traces of their entrance into the clearing wiped clean.

"There," Ranko said in satisfaction, "that should keep us clear for at least tonight. Especially as we're at a higher elevation than previously."

The two girls nodded and crawled into their tent, shedding clothes to put on their pajamas. A second later Ranko scampered in nothing but her undergarments over to Ranma's tent and tossed a note into it. She turned and darted over to her own tent and dove through the flap, somehow keeping her wings from hitting anything. A brief moment of silence ensued.

Shampoo's voice broke it, screaming out in Japanese; "EEEEEK! Get your face out of there! I KNOW IT SMELLS FUNNY, I HAVEN'T BATHED IN THREE DAYS!! So does yours...... DON'T ASK ME HOW I KNOW THAT!!! You move a lot when you sleep, that's all."

A long silence followed. "You know, you speak much clearer when you're mad."

"Grrrrrrr," was the purple heads response.

"Oooookay, I'm going to sleep now. Sweet dreams, Shampoo-chan."

"Night-night."

Ranma awoke with a start, the battle cry still echoing through the air. He was completely disorientated as he was lying flat on his back instead of flying through the air. His instant balance failed him since, for once in his life, he hadn't gotten tossed out of bed upon being violently returned to the land of the living.

The young man flailed mightily and ended up propelling himself out of his tent in nothing but his boxers and landing spread eagled on the cold dirt, rocks digging into his back. The two girls who had been making the battle noises turned to him and boggled.

Ranma looked around himself wildly now that his upper mental functions were finally coming online. He noted the strange look he was getting from the two girls, noticed how early in the morning it currently was, remembered he had been asleep moments ago and looked down at himself in embarrassment, which upon noticing what he was dressed in increased that feeling greatly.

Ranma scampered back into his tent so fast he left an afterimage. "Whoa," Shampoo stated eloquently, unable to stop herself from admiring said afterimages tight butt.

Since most of his possessions had managed to fly out of his tent with him it was easy to see the note that had been left. Ranma picked it up and read.

He nodded at their logic for moving after he had passed out... PASSED OUT?!? What kind of attack had they used? Ranma thought long and hard as he tried to recall what had transpired. After half a minute an image surfaced of the redhead and purple-head locked in a tongue battle that made his head spin and nose bleed. Deciding such a simple thing as that couldn't be it he searched more but came up completely blank. He would have to get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing he did! He knew those Amazons had some pretty special maneuvers, though if that was it, it kinda sucked it required two women to pull it off. Though given it was a technique from an AMAZON tribe, he should have expected it.

The note also formally said hello from Ranko Kiima and Shampoo of the Amazons. Ranma made a halfhearted wave in the general direction of the battle cries still audible. With nothing else said Ranma folded the note and dressed himself before leaving his tent once again and gathering his belongings back up.

(NEW STUFF)

By the time he was done the girls had finished their morning spar, and were sitting around a small fire making breakfast. He sat opposite them and the threesome stared at each other in silence for a long minute.

Ranma finally broke it. "So, what's for breakfast?" he asked in Mandarin.

"Some stew, though it's a bit spicy since Shampoo cooked this morning," Ranko said.

Ranma nodded, his eyes tracing along the curves of the redhead's large wings. The sight of them captivated his eyes. They gently swayed in the breeze, a section every once in a while twitching, or the startlingly white feathers ruffling slightly before smoothing out again as the muscles underneath moved.

Shampoo saw his stare, but Ranko was too involved in her food to notice just about anything around her. "I still can't believe you went flying off like that as soon as you smelled some food," Shampoo complained.

Ranko just smiled. "Hey, everything worked out. I just knew it wasn't going to be Shin-Li again, so why are you complaining?"

"Because YOU don't have the senses to tell people apart from a distance like I and K... like I do."

Ranma wondered about that slip of the tongue. Was there a third girl out there that they didn't want him knowing about? Or were they trying to forget a departed comrade? He could sympathize with them and decided not to press about the slip. On the other hand, they had left a great opening.

"So what's up with Shin-Li anyway? And who is Chun-Li?"

Shampoo sighed, but didn't want to go back on her word. She had promised him a question that never got answered the previous day. "She came to the Village saying all kinds of horrible things about us and challenged the village champion to a fight. Since we hadn't had that years championship yet, and last years winner was out on patrol I volunteered to defeat her. During the fight we were... interrupted by another Amazon who shall remain nameless," Shampoo grumbled "stupid Mousse," under her breath loud enough for all to hear, "and Shin-Li ended up getting knocked out by that other Amazon."

"While this might have only been a little embarrassing most of the time, Shin-Li took it as a personal offense that somebody was allowed to interfere in our fight. I just think it's the fact she was winning at the time and knew she had gotten lucky. After many more insults and turning down any offers of a rematch she was threatened by the Village and told to leave and never return or face a hunting party. She didn't exactly believe that part, so I was ordered to tail her out of the area and make sure she knows not to mess with the Amazon's in the future."

"Now, here's were the story gets a little weird," Shampoo said, not even really thinking about how much more information she was giving the pigtailed martial artist above and beyond a simply explanation of where Shin-Li had come from. "Shin-Li got rather lost as she attempted to make her way back to the nearest city, and I was having fun testing out all my tracking skills so I let her stumble about for some time. Eventually we reached Jusenkyo, an area that I recognized by reputation alone. Amazons are strictly forbidden from going to that place, as you're almost guaranteed to get a curse once on Jusenkyo's soil. How Shin-Li managed to avoid one I'll never know. Seeing as how I never went into Jusenkyo by myself, I've avoided that fate as well. Ranko, here, emerged from Shin-Li's visit, however, in a strange night-time-TV type of way."

Ranko shook her head. "Where did that come from? You don't even have TV in the Amazon village."

Shampoo smiled. "Of course we do, they're just hidden behind the ornamental wall hangings, that's all. Wouldn't want to spoil the village's image now, would we?"

"So THAT's why the Elders were always getting so worked up about upholding Amazon law. Those soaps were corrupting their minds with all the betrayal and back stabbing that goes along with having a normal TV relationship."

Shampoo nodded in agreement. "I always said it was rotting their minds to be watching that stuff. I guess once they get past a 150 years of age or so they just stop practicing and devote all their time to keeping track of the 14 different soaps on every day. Stupid old farts," the young Amazon trailed off into what sounded like rather insulting mumblings.

"Anyway," the Amazon said, getting back to her story, "since I was traversing around the outskirts of Jusenkyo and exploring places I had never been before, I wasn't keeping much of an eye on Shin-Li. She started getting frustrated as the Jusenkyo guide was warning her that she should be more careful, and the girl thought he was talking about her getting knocked out after challenging the Amazons. During her temper tantrum I noticed a girl in obvious pain trying to climb over the embankment I was hiding behind that surrounded the springs."

"I wasn't sure why she looked like she was trying to get to the springs, but I figured I had better see if there was something I could do to help her. Once closer, I was struck by how strangely beautiful she looked with those huge wings, but I pushed that from my mind and assumed they were the reason she was trying to get back to Jusenkyo. Maybe they weren't working right and she wanted to dunk herself in a spring of drowned winged woman or something. I don't know what all the different springs are, that very well could be a real one. So, I asked her if she was alright and didn't get a response, she just kept crawling. I also noticed how badly damaged one of her wings was, and figured that was why she was trying to get to the spring. However, when I reached down to help her up she freaked out and tried to throw me."

"She didn't succeed as she was too weak at the time, but it certainly caught my attention, since I had never seen a throw like that before, especially not executed horizontally. Now that I could see her face clearly I was starting to suspect something that hadn't occurred to me before. I thought she might be one of the Musk, as they were known to have animalistic like traits, and all Amazons are warned to be very leery of any who are like that. Seeing how much pain she was in anyway I decided to see if there might be some information she could tell me to decide if I should leave her there or help her."

"It was soon apparent that she was having problems hearing, though whether it had to do with how badly damaged she was or not I didn't know at the time, and I couldn't really ask her since she couldn't hear a word I was saying. For reasons I'm still unsure about I decided to help the silver haired woman with wings, help her to get to whatever spring it was she was seeking. I had pushed all doubt that she was my enemy, or that I might get pulled into the spring as well if the stories the Elders told were to be believed, out of my mind. I wanted to know, and nothing was going to stop me."

Shampoo paused to marvel at the way her audience was enraptured with her voice, hanging on her every word and looking like they would kill her unless she continued the story. Given Ranko's Amazon upbringing, trained to listen attentively to a Lore Master, she could understand that from her, but it shouldn't have been quite this interesting to the redhead. Maybe Shampoo had just discovered one of her hidden talent like the Village constantly talked about.

"I managed to tell her with my expression and some hand gestures that I simply wanted to help her get to a spring, whichever one she wanted, and I wasn't trying to kill her or anything. I guessed that her village had told stories about the Amazons as well, since the way we dress is pretty well known and distinctive. Nevertheless, I managed to get her standing somewhat and the two of us headed over to the far side of where Shin-Li was still having it out with the Jusenkyo Guide, who looked like he was about to dive into one of the pools simply to get away from the loud young woman."

"I was steered over to one of the pools near the edge of Jusenkyo, I was thankful to note, and it was mimed to me that I was simply to drop her near it and get away, unless I wanted to have something not good happen to me. Seeing as how not good usually means cursed in that area, I decided to take her advice and placed her down at the shore of the pool. She smiled at me as I backed away, thankful that there were no springs behind me, before scooting forward and disappearing beneath the water with nary a splash. At that moment I heard behind me what had probably caused her injuries, as something extremely powerful feeling and very fast approached from where I had found the woman."

"I turned around to confront whatever this was and realized it would probably be a better idea if I simply ran the other way. Coming at me was the single most scary thing I have ever seen in my life. A Minitaur with tiny little wings was heading straight for me, though if it was planning to attack me or the pool behind me I'll never know. Just as I saw it four massive blasts of energy came down from above. I couldn't sense them like ki, but it didn't feel like the few bits of magic I had encountered before, so I really have no clue as to what it was exactly. All I do know is that the first shot landed just behind the creature, the second impacted right upon it, and the third was between me and it, sending up such a cloud of dust that my view was completely obscured. The fourth and final one struck just behind me and vaporized the pool I had just left that woman in."

"I looked all around but I couldn't find any signs of either the monster that had been approaching, or the being that fired those shots from the sky. Not that I could really fly up and check, but I couldn't sense or see anyone. It had certainly attracted the attention of Shin-Li and the Guide, as the girl was running away and the Guide was quickly approaching, wondering what had fallen into the pools that had made such a ruckus. I didn't want to feel foolish so when I gave the guide a quick explanation I omitted the beams and Minitaur that had almost assaulted me, having seen no remains of them to prove my word. I simply returned to the pool, wondering and fearing what I may see upon gazing into its now dry depths."

Shampoo was really enjoying herself, spinning this story as best she could remember was giving her mind a workout that was like nothing else she had felt in her life. Watching her audiences expressions and the way they seemed to be moved by her words, enthralled by them, brought a happiness and a joy to Shampoo that she had only ever found while in the midst of a good fight before.

"But what jumped out of the pool and hugged me was a naked redheaded woman with wings. While she looked completely different than the female that had entered the pool, it was obvious to me at least that this was the same woman that I had helped. The Guide said that whoever this was before had fallen into the spring of drowned young girl, though why she had a set of wings he couldn't fathom. Perhaps magic that was stronger than Jusenkyo had created them was his only guess. Having seen the beam of energy that vaporized the pool I'd be willing to bet on it as well, though how that interacted with Ranko here is something I still don't know."

"Since Shin-Li had left, the Guide took Ranko and I back to his hut so he could heat some water and figure out who the redhead had been pre-dunk. It was obvious to me by the glances Ranko kept giving me that she had a secret she didn't want to tell with anybody else around, so I was at a bit of a loss as to what happened to the silver haired woman I had been helping before. Or at least what happened to her body. If she knew about Jusenkyo then I would have assumed she knew about the Guide, who is sworn, by who I don't know, but is sworn not to tell the secrets of Jusenkyo's victims."

"Once the water near hot enough I quickly performed a secret Amazon technique that would make him forget the last few minutes, but would leave him unconscious for a bit without remembering being unconscious. Then once I had assured Ranko here that he would be out of it for a little while she finally told me what was going on."

Ranko smiled at Ranma and gave him a small wave. "Hi, I'm Ranko, and I'm 1500 years old."

Ranma blinked. "You're the girl from the spring of drowned girl?" he asked in surprise. "Everything I heard and read on Jusenkyo said that the victims were never given up once they had been sucked into one of the pools. Hmmm, of course, your pool was destroyed, and that was never mentioned as having happened before. Interesting."

"The thing is," Ranko continued, "the silver-haired woman that Shampoo brought to the pool in the first place is still here, and her name is Kiima. Due to circumstances she hasn't told me about yet, she doesn't want to be seen or let out yet, so I've been avoiding hot water, as that allows her to come out as she was originally. Don't ask me how all this was arranged, I'm just glad it didn't seem even close to 1500 years while I was stuck in the pool, otherwise I might have gone crazy or something."

Ranma shuddered. "Yeah, I can imagine that. All too well." The last was muttered under his breath, though both women with him managed to hear what he had said by super human abilities, whether gifted thanks to being not quite human or simple skill it matters not.

"So, can you talk with Kiima?" Ranma asked the redhead, his eyes once again roving over her beautiful and ethereal form in almost worshipful appreciation.

"When she feels like it I can," Ranko told him. "But she's usually silent and won't respond to any of my questions. Something really bad happened to her, and I think she's still trying to get over it. Shin-Li isn't helping matters either, the way she keeps coming up and attacking us for 'cheating' her out of her fight." Ranko turned to Shampoo and smirked. "Though how it changed from you hunting her to her hunting you I'll never know."

Shampoo sniffed and turned away in a huff, arms crossed under her breasts. "It's all Mousses fault and you know it!"

The way Ranma's right eyebrow was creeping towards his hairline the young Amazon knew she would be needing to explain this one as well.

Unfortunately, Ranko beat her to the punch. "When Shampoo was growing up there was this boy who followed her around constantly, probably because she was the only one that could stand him, and he decided at an early age that his only goal in life is to become married to his childhood 'sweetheart'. So he needed to learn how to fight in order to beat her in combat so he could claim her as a wife, instead of just being her companion if she had decided to take him as a lover when older. The only Elder in the village who could stand Mousse was an old weirdo who practiced Hidden Weapons, where pretty much the entire purpose of fighting is simply to show how many different weapons can be used in a bout. Naturally, Mousse fit right in with the weirdness of the style."

"Most of the weapons are attached to chains so that they may be retrieved easily and quickly after use. Mousse had gone after Shampoo during her stalking of Shin-Li, but since he has incredibly poor eyesight missed the entire episode at Jusenkyo until we had left and were heading after Shin-Li again. Upon seeing her with a winged woman, me, he went crazy and started pulling out every weapon in his sleeves in an attempt to 'save' 'his' Shampoo from certain death at the hands of a Musk, despite the fact that he had been watching us for several minutes trying to figure out who I reminded him of before he managed to make out what the large fuzzy lumps on my back are. It just so happened that Shin-Li had decided that she had seen an easier path than the one she was on a little ways back and had turned around to take the other fork in the road when she came upon Mousse letting go with all his weapons. She was instantly struck by how cool she thought he looked and determined that A: she would steal his technique and use it to become internationally famous, and B: she would make that bespectacled man her boyfriend if he wasn't completely creepy and wanting to upstage her in the martial arts all the time."

Shampoo had been watching Ranma while Ranko was telling her tale, and she could actually see him working out how he thought Mousse was performing his trick. Obviously having a bit of help after having seen Shin-Li do it, Shampoo was still impressed by how easily he seemed to come to a conclusion. It would remain to be seen if he was right, but she was impressed in spite of herself.

Ranko raised a finger and pointed it at Ranma. "Now we come to Shin-Li's major failing, and the reason she's never going to make it very far in the arena she wants to. While fairly quick on the uptake once she is shown something, she doesn't have the imagination necessary to improve upon anything. She simply believes that what she sees the first time is the best that it can be. Both Shampoo and I know that this is never true, and you've probably noticed this as well, that no matter how refined something is, there is almost always something more that can be done to improve it."

Ranma was nodding in agreement, as that was pretty much what he lived for, to improve upon himself and any techniques that he learned in his travels. He had already done that for a number of the masters that he had studied under, and he imagined it was why a lot of the old codgers that didn't normally teach wandering martial artists would make an exception with him, for they almost always got something out of it to improve their own school.

"Once she finally pestered Mousse enough so that he showed her how to perform his move, Shin-Li decided that she was now unbeatable and should hunt down her hunters and teach them a lesson. Seeing as how I've been fighting that style for a while it wasn't really that hard to actually defeat her, but one of us simply can't knock her out anymore like we could have before she picked up those chains. However, we accidentally discovered that secret technique you succumbed to as well and it's become much easier to avoid her. We were about to head on out to the coast and hope she would catch the drift and leave the country, but we doubt that's going to happen now. She'll probably try and get back to the Village to challenge somebody again, and if Shampoo doesn't stop her before that Bad Things will happen to her."

"Things do quickly spiral out of control, don't they," Ranma commented idly, various adventures he had been through floating to the surface of his mind.

The two girls with him nodded.

"I wonder if I'll ever meet Kiima," Ranma said, obviously having intended for it to be a silent comment the way he was staring off into space. His gaze focused upon Ranko and warmed considerably, something that wasn't lost on either woman. "So how do you like having the wings? I assume you didn't have them before you, umm... well,"

Ranko took pity on him and voiced what he could not. "No, I didn't have wings before I drowned, though I certainly wish I had. They are just wonderful to use, and I thank Kiima for them every chance I get. That, and I'm hoping that one of these days she'll actually respond to something. I feel so bad not being able to help the poor girl from whatever she suffered from."

"You're doing a lot right now," Shampoo reassured the shorter girl. "Just letting her heal without having to worry about whatever it was that did this to her is a lot, and I'm sure she'll come back out when she's good and ready."

Ranma could tell that Shampoo had been over this a few times with the redhead before, and could identify with her somewhat. He had known people like that before, on just about all fronts. He had known those that needed to be comforted, and those that wanted to comfort, and those that were best alone, and a few loners as well.

Ranma reached out and rested his hand upon the back of Ranko's much smaller one. "When Kiima comes back, I don't want to lose you, though. Given all the magic that's being flung around here there's got to be a way for you to be able to get your own body. Hopefully with the wings," he added as his gaze swept over the majestic appendages.

Ranko turned her head to the left as that wing swept forward slightly. She smirked and brought it around the rest of the way, rubbing it against Ranma and completely messing his hair up. Not that he really cared so he just reached out and gently grasped the soft feathers to him, that tingle from before running through his body as his eyes found and locked onto Ranko's.

A rather loud throat clearing made the both of them turn to face Shampoo in surprise. "What?"

Shampoo hadn't been able to tell if one or both of them had said that. "So, maybe it would be a good idea to transform quickly just so Ranma here knows what Kiima looks like and isn't surprised when the time comes?"

Ranko contemplated that for several moments before nodding her head. "Kiima hasn't said anything about it, but I have to agree that's a pretty good idea. Just don't keep her around for long. She can be a bit... violent when angered."

Ranma chuckled. "Interestingly, I've noticed that to be a rather wide spread trend for some reason."

Shampoo laughed long and loudly, make her two companions turn to face her in surprise. Ranma idly noted how pretty it sounded. "Ranma, you funny," she said between chuckles.

"Well, the curse is pretty basic. When splashed with cold water Ranko takes on her cursed form, when splashed with hot she returns to normal. Since Kiima was the one that fell in the pool, that's the form that shows up with hot water." Having informed Ranma of this Shampoo reached a hand into the stew and flung some of the flavored water at her companion.

Ranko started shifting while Shampoo jumped from her position to land behind the changing redhead. The hair was still in a pigtail, though now it was silver in color. The wings remained unchanged, though they had shifted up slightly as the new woman was much taller than Ranko. Her eyes were closed, so he was denied seeing their color, but it was obvious even in her unconscious state that Kiima was a strikingly beautiful woman, made even more so thanks to her wings.

"That's what she looks like, though thankfully she's asleep at the moment," Shampoo said, looking down upon the woman cradled against her chest with an unreadable expression on her face.

Ranma managed to break free from the same feeling that he had gotten upon first seeing Ranko enough to respond. "Well, she's certainly nothing like Ranko. I'm sure this'll prove useful sometime in the future."

Shampoo smirked at him. "We didn't do this for your benefit alone you know. We wanted to see if she was ready to come out yet or not as well."

"Yes, I figured as much," Ranma said absently, his eyes once again captured by Kiima's beauty. He couldn't understand how this was happening to him, physical aspects like this had never been that important to him before. Shampoo was a beautiful woman, yet he didn't have any strange tingles with her like Ranko and Kiima. Maybe it was the wings. Ranma had to admit that he was insanely jealous of those appendages, and would do almost anything to be able to spend as much time as he wanted in the air, one of the things that he strived to do with his art.

Making sure Ranma had had enough time to remember the girls features, Shampoo then splashed her with some cold water from a flask she pulled from somewhere. Ranko returned, her blue eyes blinking in surprise as she looked around the clearing.

"It's so weird to do that when she's asleep," was her comment.

"Heavy sleeper?" Ranma asked, his gaze still taking in those majestic wings.

The girls stared at him.

He didn't notice. They stared at him harder. Much harder.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

Ranma was a little non plussed by the strange looks that he was getting, but perhaps he had been staring a bit obsessively at Ranko's extra appendages.

He simply reached over and grabbed himself some breakfast, quickly digging in and giving a clear signal that the conversation was over, time to eat. Ranko and Shampoo agreed with him, their stomachs still a bit needy from their recent fasting.

A few bites in Ranma stopped. "Hey, where did you get this stuff? I didn't catching anything, and it certainly doesn't look like you have this morning."

"We found it in your bag," Shampoo told him.

Ranma almost spit out what was in his mouth, but his stomach protested and he swallowed quickly instead. "You're using that? It's for later, when I'm higher up in the mountains and can't find anything to eat. I didn't bring much with me, as I was planning on finding civilization pretty soon or going back down to where wildlife is more abundant, as it's way too cold up there at the top."

"I know, we used most of it this morning. We'll have to go back to the village and get some more supplies before we head back out for Shin-Li and turn the tables on her."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Ranma said, waving his arms around, his dish sitting beside him empty already. "When I said you could have some of my dinner, there was no mention of us joining up or anything. Heck, I didn't even think I was going to be with you girls after that meal, I was just hoping to get directions from you."

"Planning on seeing the Amazons, hmm?" Shampoo said with a smirk.

"No, actually," Ranma lied, "I was going to find the Phoenix people and hopefully convince them to share what they would of their martial arts."

"Hah," Shampoo laughed. "They don't have martial arts, they have a hereditary power that means you'll never beat them and you'll never get the secret. I've never even seen one and I live here, so there's no chance at all for your little quest. You should just come with me back to the village and I'll speak with my Grandma about getting you some training." 'As a properly submissive male,' she mentally added.

Ranko knew that look and wasn't too happy at the moment. Ranko knew that something interesting was going on between her and Ranma, and she REALLY wanted to find out what it might eventually lead to. Even Kiima seemed to stir ever so slightly within her when they touched. And here Shampoo was already trying to mold him into what she had been lead to believe a male should be. Mousse might have actually been a decent guy if he had had any direction at all in his youth. Instead he had been scorned and ridiculed simply because he had been born male instead of female, something he had absolutely no control over.

Ranko decided right then and there that she would do whatever was necessary to assist Ranma, even if that meant leaving Shampoo behind. She had simply been with the girl as she was a slightly better hunter than her, or had been when they were farther down the mountain. Besides, she kinda figured she owed it to the purple haired woman after she had rescued her from the spring. But despite having worked on her ever since she realized what the girls views were, nothing really seemed to be changing. Having Ranma around might be the catalyst needed to show her that males and females were not designed to be dominating one another, but to coexist in harmony as her parents had done.

But that might take more time than she was willing to put into it. Ranko still had Kiima to deal with, or would have once the woman woke up and told her tale. She would simply hope that things held together for a little longer one way or another.

Ranma could tell something was wrong. He wasn't sure what, or even how he was doing it, but something in the air was telling him that badness was just around the corner. He found it somewhat ironic that he and his two female companions were just about to the Amazon village. Perhaps it meant something, perhaps not, for he didn't feel as if he himself were in danger, it was like somebody he cared for was about to go through great suffering.

It was obvious to him that Shampoo was feeling it as well, though she managed to hide it for the most part. The only one unaffected seemed to be Ranko, as she was her usual cheerful self, fluttering about and talking about everything and nothing. Ranma found her to be a delight to speak with, and the hours just seemed to melt away as they joked their way back to Shampoo's home.

Right before they were to come into sight of the village, about ten minutes away, an event happened that would change Shampoo forever.

Ranma was instantly in a defensive pose before Ranko as a figure burst from a roadside hedge. Shampoo joined him not a moment later. While flattered, Ranko wondered if both of them were forgetting that she was almost as good as Shampoo simply because she seemed like such a cheerful young girl.

"Shampoo, what are you doing here?" The figure asked. It was male, sporting thick glasses, long black hair and even longer white robes.

"Mousse? What are you doing out here?" Shampoo asked in shock. Males were never sent to patrol the roads, especially not Mousse thanks to his poor eyesight and unwillingness to wear his glasses most of the time.

"I heard the stories, that you helped a Phoenix at the Springs and then ran off on your mission and wanted to be the first to know if it was true or not," he said, his gaze sweeping over the threesome until they came upon Ranko and her glorious white wings.

He gasped in shock. "It is true! Wow, Shampoo, this'll get you in good graces with the elders no matter how badly you may have bungled that entire Shin-Li episode."

The purple haired warrior shook her head. "What are you talking about? We've never even seen any Phoenix people before, and now you tell me that the elders have been looking for them for some reason?"

Mousse looked shocked. "You haven't heard? It's been the talk of the town ever since it was discovered right after... after you left. Eh hehehe. Right, let me explain."

Mousse stepped off the main road back behind the hedge he had been behind and the rest followed him, Ranma staying protectively close to the winged redhead.

Once behind the shrubbery the foursome sat down in a small clearing before Mousse started speaking. "Soap found half of a wing on her last patrol, and brought it back with her since she wasn't able to identify what species it was from."

Shampoo nodded at that, as Soap had always been rather interested in flying in general and birds in particular. For her to not recognize something was pretty rare.

Mousse continued. "She brought it before the Elders but they weren't able to identify it either until Cologne stumbled across an old scroll detailing the features of the Phoenix people. It was obvious then where the wing had come from, and your Great Grandma quickly seized the wing section before anybody else could read farther down the page and see what wonderful spells it could make should its various parts be ground up. By the time anybody noticed it Cologne was already done and showing what incredible affects it had."

Ranma had a sinking suspicion of what they were going to try and do to Ranko, though for some reason Shampoo seemed oblivious to the fact this Mousse guy was saying Ranko's a Phoenix. It was like Shampoo had it stuck in her mind that a Phoenix was a bird with a human face, not a human with bird wings. Ranma didn't care if he had to wipe out the entire Amazon nation, he wouldn't let anybody lay a finger on Ranko!

Shampoo gasped. "You mean we've declared hunting season on mythical Phoenix people?" she asked in shock.

Mousse shook his head. "No, nothing like that. We're just cutting their wings off."

Ranko, Shampoo and Ranma all mouthed the word 'freedom' when Mousse said wings. It unsettled the bespectacled boy greatly to see something so perfectly synchronized.

They had seen the joy on Ranko's face as she returned from her brief flights. It made the two long for their own set. The thought of which made Shampoo realize something.

"Is there no spring of winged woman?" the purple head inquired.

Mousse shook his head. "No, the Elders already consulted with the Jusenkyo guide about that."

"Well, why hasn't anybody made one?" Shampoo wanted to know.

Ranma and Ranko gasped in surprise. Shampoo turned her gaze to them and smirked. "You don't actually have to let somebody drown there for a spring to form. Until they lose consciousness is enough, then you pull them out quickly. Though it is very rare, it has been done before."

"So, why don't you do it more often? You could have springs of whatever you wanted if you used them like that."

"Because they don't exactly like to be used as a tool and they will find a way to make things go bad for you," Shampoo told them. "Several times in our history people have gotten it into their head to try and use the springs as a resource. Every time they end up dying rather quickly, either through the springs directly or indirectly, it always comes back to Jusenkyo."

Ranma shook his head. "And how many people live around them? It's amazing that more people don't suffer from that. Especially as it's known as a training ground."

"Every terrain has its dangers, some are visible and easily avoided, others are not."

Ranko seemed to have huddled in on herself a little, and it was worrying her two companions. And, as much as he hated to admit it, Shampoo did have to admit to herself that this male was certainly different than anything she had seen in the village before. It almost seemed worth it, to have someone like him by her side, to let the males keep their ego and their confidence, it did almost seem worth it.

"I think this must have been done in the past," Ranko said, surprising those around her. "Kiima is starting to react to what Mousse said and I get the feeling that she must have been involved with the battle that produced that wing."

Mousse had studied the redhead for the first time and was amazed at how utterly human she looked, just with the additional and ever so valuable appendages. When the Elders had spoken of it, they made the Phoenix people out to be barely above an animal, and certainly not deserving of having the ability of flight. It made him wonder just how many of the views and beliefs that had been drilled into the Amazon nation by those in charge were based on the actual laws, or were they simply the biased views of those corrupted by their power. Something to talk with Shampoo about, though he was certain she would simply dismiss the matter out of hand since it had come from his mouth.

"What, were they all killed off?" Ranma asked, his gaze once again flicking over to Ranko.

The redhead shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, but that would be my guess since Shampoo hasn't heard of them in her entire life. Maybe they're finally started to have enough of a population to come out of hiding."

Mousse and Shampoo rubbed their chins in an identical manner that Ranma and Ranko had a hard time not laughing at, though they did manage to contain themselves.

"Remember the stories when we were children," Mousse said, "of those massive battles between the Three Races in the Mountains? The Amazons, the Musk and the Phoenix? All sworn enemies, though the Musk and Amazons would sometimes team up against their superior flying opponents, and during which time many new attacks were invented, springs were created, and landmarks gouged out of the landscape."

Shampoo was nodding her head, eyes flicking from Ranko's slightly twitching wings to over her shoulder in which direction were the Musk lands. "Indeed, those were some incredibly harsh times."

"They seem to be coming again," Mousse said quietly, obviously not liking the situation he was finding himself in.

Ranko shivered and Ranma placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. He was very surprised when one of her wings lowered to rest gently against his back, the softness of it astounding him.

Shampoo noted the movement and wondered about its significance. She had no idea how to interpret the redheads body language when she did stuff like that.

Ranko was also a bit surprised at her move. She hadn't told her wing to do anything, it had simply gone down to him in an unconscious gesture. Though the faintly pleasurable feedback she was getting from the appendage made her appreciate it even more.

"Well," Ranma said, "we obviously can't take Ranko into the Village. So who's going and who's staying behind?"

Shampoo shook her head. "I don't even know if it would be worth it to leave again after Shin-Li. I mean, there's so much going on a round here I don't want to be away if I can prevent something dumb from happening."

Ranma wanted to see if there was anything to learn from the Amazons, but he was not going to put Ranko in danger to achieve that. Besides, he had a feeling that no matter what happened the three (four with Kiima) of them were going to be sticking together for a while. He just really wanted to know why.

"I'd like to know what we're going to do about Kiima," Ranko said.

That gave everyone pause. Mousse because he didn't know a Kiima and was trying to picture their face. Ranma shook his head to clear it and spoke.

"Look, what are we really doing here? Shampoo, is trailing Shin-Li off of China really that important at the moment? If she comes back just have your guards shoot her in the butt with a sleeping dart and go drop her off in the back of a truck or something. What we're dealing with here is much more serious. We've got a winged girl with issues, a winged race you Amazons are taking up issue with, and these Musk people who sound like they could take advantage of these issues at a moments notice. The only Amazon I've ever dealt with is you, and you're pretty nice, but not all of you can be. Now how are we going to solve all these issues?"

Shampoo almost got offended at him calling her nice, but realized it wasn't a 'demure, pleasant, non-confrontational housewife' nice, but a 'fair, honest, happy to be around warrior babe' type of nice.

She sighed. "Ranko we should be able to sneak into the village, especially if we use Mousse as a distraction, and hide her in my home. I don't know for how long, so we'll have to make this visit quick and figure out where we need to head next, taking Shin-Li out of the equation anyway. The other problem is Ranma."

Said pigtailed martial artist pointed to himself in surprise.

"We Amazons are very proud of our female warriors, and we don't take too well to arrogant males."

Ranma protested, "I'm not that arrogant! Am I?"

Ranko and, after a moments pause, Shampoo both shook their heads in the negative. "No, you're actually pretty humble for being as good as you are. Since you're really good, you're not actually that humble."

Not entirely sure how to take that, Ranma remained silent.

"Anyway," Shampoo continued, "the problem is we have quite a few, ah, lonely warriors right now. And seeing someone as cute as you might make it difficult for you to avoid a lot of marriage challenges."

Ranma snapped his fingers. "That's right, I remember some old guys warning me about that when I was still finding out about the places I was trying to get trained at."

Shampoo's eyes widened slightly. "You were coming to train with me? Er, us Amazons?"

Shampoo managed to ignore the look Ranko shot her, knowing the questions she was going to get once they went to bed that night. Unnoticed by the purple-haired warrior, she didn't even think of making her friend sleep on the floor, or doing it herself, having gotten comfortable being in the arms of, and holding, another woman.

"Of course, I'm always looking for more techniques. I want to be the best."

Ranko was starting to feel a little confused. What had gotten into Shampoo that she suddenly liked Ranma so much? Before she had barely tolerated his presence, and she'd had to silently beg before Shampoo agreed to bring the pigtailed martial artist with them after their first meeting with Shin-Li. Now it was like the girl wanted to issue a marriage challenge as soon as they got to the village.

Was Shampoo planning something, good or bad? Maybe the girl was taking things as serious as she should be and thought herself to be in a legend, or making her own legend. Or she was trying to make Mousse jealous, which, strangely, seemed to be failing utterly.

The more Ranko thought about it, the more she was certain that was the reason. And the Amazon would only get more obvious as she tried to make Mousse jealous. This could turn out rather badly. But with herself hidden because of her (and Kiima's) wings, there would be no way for her to run damage control.

Which would mean that everything would be up to Ranma, even though he would pretty much be staying with her to prevent him from constantly getting marriage challenges.

Shampoo seemed to read her mind and abruptly turned to Ranma. "I have another idea that we might be able to use," she said, obviously trying ton contain her enthusiasm for this latest plan.

Ranma shrugged and gestured for her to extrapolate.

"In order to distract the Elders from my original mission of making sure that stupid Shin-Li leaves our land, I should succeed in my other mission."

"What's that?" Ranma wanted to know.

Bouncing over to him, Shampoo plopped herself onto his lap, making sure to wriggle her shapely bum over his crotch and conceal the smile at the size of the lump beneath her, then threw her arms around his neck and pulled herself tight, squashing her breasts flat against his chest.

Ranma's eyes bugged in surprise as he was suddenly wrapped in shapely young girl.

"That you'll be my new husband."

Ranko's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Just what else was she trying to accomplish beyond keeping them from getting thrown in jail? Considering how hostile she was to him when they first met this had to be something more than just changing her opinion of him.

"Married?!" Ranma screeched in shock.

Shampoo giggled and rubbed herself against him some more. "Not really. Just so you won't constantly be harassed by the other desperate young women." She quickly spoke up a moment later as she noticed Ranko opening her mouth, "not that I'm a desperate young women, of course not!"

Ranko closed her mouth and grinned as she had gotten the girl to admit it just as well as if she had shouted it out. Still, the redhead refused to believe that was all the reason for Shampoo's actions.

Both girls glanced at Mousse and were surprised to see his lack of concern at the way Ranma had free reign of Shampoo's feminine bits. In fact, his eyes were rather hard to see thanks to the strange murkiness of his thick glasses.

This time Ranko noticed Shampoo's reaction to Mousse's lack of reaction and reacted in shock. She wasn't surprised when the only person that noticed was Ranma.

He was steadfastly ignoring Shamoo, since he couldn't seem to get her off of him without placing his hands on parts of her that would make Ranko much angrier than she already was. Still, he managed to talk with only a small hitch in his voice as the purple-head squirmed in his arms.

"Something wrong, Ranko?" He seemed to consider his words for a moment before speaking again. "Besides the obvious."

"I'll tell you later," Ranko said, glancing all around her as if she thought they were being spied on at that very moment.

Strangely for Ranma, he got that exact same feeling, but managed to keep himself from rubbernecking. This was going to be an interesting trip, that much was obvious.

Ranma sat on the roof of Shampoo's hut, wondering what it was that seemed off about everyone he had met since arriving at the village. He could tell it was affecting Ranko as well, since she was getting jumpier and jumpier, despite how well she was hidden. It helped that she was able to spy on the people that walked by her tree, though he knew she was going to do something drastic pretty soon. How he was getting so familiar with her so soon he didn't know, but he was glad for it.

It had already been three days, plenty of time for Shampoo to have gotten her supplies and for their little party to be on the road again. But she kept coming up with excuse after excuse that some needed thing was out of stock and would be gathered in a few hours, but would then have to be treated or some such thing for 24 hours before it could be packaged and given to her for the trip.

Given how different she had acted when he first met her, and how adamant she was about finding out about her friend and Kiima, Ranma refused to believe that this was how she normally was when not around strangers. The entire village seemed to be off of the descriptions he had received of it. While that could be a good or bad thing depending on how seriously you took Shampoo's earlier stories, Ranma knew that something big was going on and nobody but him and Ranko knew about it.

He had been able to talk to the winged girl a few times, but never long enough to really discuss things as they should be. A plan needed to be formed, and without Shampoo things would be dicey if anything went wrong. Even if things went right it would be dicey given his limited knowledge of the area. Ranko should know better than him, but she hadn't been around in some time, so who knew what had been changed in the intervening years.

While he doubted it, there was the possibility that this had something to do with Kiima. Ranko had been dead far too long to still be on somebody's revenge list, while the original winged woman hadn't spoken a word that he knew of to anybody so who knew what might have been after her. Ranma had no more than the briefest of glimpses at her, but he could tell even from that she was a pretty good fighter. No way to judge skill accurately, but her body showed impressive strength and the wings would be a great bonus with the right tactics.

So the answer to this had to be Ranko. Kiima might even be better, but since Shampoo had barely heard of the Phoenix, there was no reason to assume the Phoenix would know more about the Amazons.

Realizing it was time to take a leak (speak with Ranko) Ranma hopped down from the roof and started silently walking through the outskirts of the village, feeling almost strange to be seeing the buildings around him without Shampoo's curvy body pressing against him or at least holding her hand. It shocked him how quickly he was getting used to being in such close contact with a shapely young woman. It probably helped that nothing funny ever happened. She simply latched onto him and they stayed that way until she had to let go, no funny looks or strange questions, just physical affection while in public.

He had always gotten stared at when he was in Japan, or even in other parts of China, if he was very close to a girl for any reason. While none of them had been romantic on his part, he couldn't say the same about them. Now that he was older, thinking back on some of those made him realize the girls might have been hinting at much more than being buddies. He also recalled a couple of guys doing that and almost tripped as he realized they were, in fact, girls.

He had never thought he was that dumb when he was younger, but he had the memories to prove it. Man, he'd have to find those girls again just to apologize for leaving them like that. It might have affected them more than he cared to think about, given they were all older than him.

Finally having cleared the village and gotten to Ranko's hideout, Ranma lifted the small bush and slid into the hole beneath it. Replacing the plant he slithered down a bit until it widened out to a small cave, supplies stacked everywhere. The Amazons had these emergency caches all around the area, just in case someone or the entire village didn't have any other way of getting food and necessary survival items. This also meant that they were almost never checked in case a rival or wanderer saw an Amazon enter one.

It was an almost ideal place to hide except for the somewhat poor ventilation of the place and complete lack of sunlight. Unknown to the rest, Ranko had actually left the security of her cache to get some light and stretch her wings. She hadn't been spotted but the redhead really wanted to get out of there for good before she was found out. She just knew somebody was going to try and use that specific emergency station even though none of them had been touched in several years. The longer she stayed the more nervous she got.

Now that Ranma was with her she instantly felt better, though this was something that had just started developing since she was in the cave. It made her think of Shampoo and the way she had changed since getting to the outskirts of the village. Something was affecting things, Ranma had noticed it as well but was having a very difficult time trying to get Shampoo to do something about it with him, as they were almost required to be together all the time to get rid of any unwanted and time wasting suitors.

"Any luck?" Ranko asked.

Ranma shook his head as the two almost naturally fell into the only two comfortable places in the artificial cave, which also meant they were cuddled together in a very small area, Ranko tucked under Ranma's arm while she pressed herself into him instead of the crates all around them.

Her wings had somehow folded in even tighter and Ranma was using the arm behind the redhead to hold her wings and keep them from getting caught or pinched by the many curved and sharp edges of the supply containers.

"The affect in the village seems to be getting worse, and I'm no closer to figuring out what's going on than the last time I was here." He looked over at her from the corner of his eye, knowing he had to ask this but not really wanting to see her go.

"Unless you've remembered something new since I first asked you, I think we're going to have to get Kiima out here and see if I can't get her to answer a few questions, or maybe even help figure out what's wrong with the Amazons."

Ranko nodded her head in agreement, though Ranma could tell that Kiima worried her a little for some reason. Looking about for a container to hold a bit of water so Ranma could heat it he noticed something from the corner of his eye that made his heart stop, though he managed to control his physical reaction enough for Ranko not to notice.

Looking about himself more, Ranma confirmed what he had thought he'd seen. Ranko was flickering, like she was a projection of some sort. How could that be possible? She hadn't ever done it before, and it looked mechanical, not magical like a curse.

Thinking back on the way Shampoo had been acting Ranma had a hunch there were many more things going on than a beaten up winged woman and a strange feeling Amazon village. Not really sure how to proceed, Ranma went with what he had originally been doing.

Spotting a few cups in a corner he grabbed one and filled it with some of the massive amount of water stored in the cache. Looking for a source of heat proved to be a little more difficult, but he soon found a small torche that he got working. He couldn't say why, but he didn't want to show that he could have easily heated the cup with his ki.

As he was keeping an eye on the flickering of Ranko, he was prepared when she came up behind him to do something violent. The fact she was holding a club clued him in that somehow this was not the same Ranko he had left here when first arriving at the village. Combined with the flickering Ranma knew that his Ranko had been replaced by this one.

Ducking out of the way as he felt the weapon coming down toward the back of his head, Ranma raised his hand and let it slap into it, yanked it from her grasp and bonked her lightly on the head. He was rather surprised when she dropped like a bag of flour.

Too surprised to even catch her he looked around, almost expecting his father to jump out from nowhere and start yelling at him about the martial artists code, which he conveniently ignored when it didn't suit him. Shaking his head to get rid of the memories Ranma almost didn't notice the person sneaking up behind him.

Using every ounce of his speed the pigtailed martial artist managed to grab the person's fingers in his right hand as they tried to jab a pressure point. Continuing the move, Ranma finished his turn, bringing the persons arm with him and wrenching it around, tucking it in his armpit. Immideitly picking a leg up he kicked back and knocked the persons legs out from under them, letting the arm rip from his grip and causing the person considerable pain.

Jumping back to the other side of the figure he saw clearly who it was for the first time. A 20 something woman was nursing her shoulder and trying to get herself away from her target. She was in a uniform of some sort, though he hadn't ever seen it before. He wasn't quite sure what it represented, as it didn't have the feel of a police uniform, yet it was a no nonsense piece given how closely it hugged her form, yet didn't seem to flatter it unduley. Not that the woman needed to flaunt her figure, it flaunted itself. Many areas were covered in pockets, most of them bulging with equipment.

Stenciled across her back was the word INTERPOL and the far wall of the cache had revealed a door in it. Cursing himself for not noticing it before, he assumed the girl came from there. A glance around revealed no further threats, but he had to assume there were more people through the doorway that were waiting until their agent got herself under control and could distract him before rushing. 'Ranko' was still unconscious where she had fallen.

Thinking he might get the drop on whoever these Interpol people are Ranma dashes towards the door intending to beat the snot out of anyone he encountered, tying them all up and seeing if he could get some answers.

Instead he found himself staring at an obviously nervous and worried Ranko, who wasn't flickering like the previous one. Glancing over his shoulder revealed the other woman had gotten to her feet and was quickly approaching. Unsure of her next action and the fact another, mabe even the real one, was hidden here and obviously not held against her will, made the young man confused and annoyed.

Reading her correctly Ranma blocked a surprisingly swift kick from the INTERPOL woman he raised her level several notches at how much force was behind the attack. Ranko was standing now and wringing her hands, wings aflutter.

Ranma countered the woman's next few kicks and countered with a viscous combo of his own that ripped through her defenses and blew her back out the doorway. Quickly turning to this Ranko he barked a question.

"What the hell is going on here? Are you even the real Ranko?"

Impressively to Ranma the Interpol woman was already coming back and he knew he didn't have time for her to answer his questions since backup had to be on the way soon.

Grabbing the redhead around the waist he picked her up, paused in shock at not beig able to see anything because of her wings, and threw her over his shoulder to get the feathery appendages out of his way.

A quick and impossible looking three kick combo in midair moved his opponent out of the way just long enough for him to dash out the doorway and back to the entrance. Even as he ran the short distance he wondered just how in the world he was going to get the both of them out the narrow exit.

That problem was solved for him when two guys in camo gear dropped down the hole and raised dart guns at him, most likely with a drug in them to knock him out. The girl from before was also after him and closing from behind.

Thankfully the two guys didn't fire at the same time, or he would have been in trouble. As it was he cought the two darts between his fingers and tossed them back the way they had come. The look of surprise on their face was priceless as the darts stuck into their neck.

He dove forward and hoped those guns were the auto loading ones. Turning he pulled the trigger twice and was rewarded with two darts. The first one missed to the right, but the second managed to tag her in the arm even as she tried to dodge out of the way.

Seeing her drop a few seconds later like the guys had made Ranma relax a bit. He turned to Ranko and demanded to know what was going on and why she had been going along with it.

Her teary eyed response was filled with hiccups and misstarts until Ranma gave up on getting the story from her right then and simply hugged her, rocking back and forth while holding her tight. Those people had said something to unbalance her, and Ranma wanted to know what it was. He just had to make sure to tie these Interpol thugs up before that drug wore off. Maybe then he could get all the answers he wanted.

(END FOR NOW)