"Is it just me, or does the town seem too quiet?" Ryoko asked nervously as they wound their way through the empty streets of Wyndia.

"Yeah, where is everyone?" Ranma said, glancing around warily. There was a general feeling of...wrongness to the air. It was midday, and there wasn't a soul in sight.

Shuffling quietly, the group finally came to a stop in the town square. Shops were deserted and closed, but there was no sign of panicked flight. Still, where was everyone?

Suddenly, a door opened, and a man came out. He caught sight of them, and quickly called inside.

"Hey! Its them!" People began pouring out of houses, from up streets, and soon the startled martial artists were surrounded by the silent people.

"Wha-what's going on?" Akane asked nervously, wondering whether she should get ready for a fight or not.

"Is it true?" Some one asked from in the crowd.

"What?" Ryoga asked, looking around. An elderly woman pushed her way to the front of the crowd.

"Are you the ones who got rid of the Nue?" she repeated.

"Well, yeah. I guess we are." Ranko said, chuckling nervously.

"...Well, I guess we had you misjudged!" the woman said brightly.

"Um...What do you mean?" Ryoga asked.

"Well, we figured since you were Brood, you were gonna try and kill us." a man said, sounding embarrassed.

"Yeah, but if you got rid of that monster, you can't be all that bad!" another voice called out. The people began smiling then, and came around to congradulate the startled Nerimains.

"I guess this is a good thing." Ukyou said quietly to Akane as the crowd lessened. Akane just nodded, blushing too hard to answer. She wasn't used to all the attention. You'd think the town never saw a martial artist before...

"Wouldn't Kuno be jealous of all the attention." Ryoko said dryly.

"I'd gladly give it to him. We weren't here to make a big deal about ourselves." Ranma muttered back.

"Yeah. We need to go, anyways." Ryoga said. "To the roof tops?" he asked.

"Aly-oop!" Ryoko said with a grin. "Thank you for your kindness, people of Wyndia. But we really must go!" she called out, then lept to the nearest roof.

"Bye bye!" Ranko chirruped, and lept up after her.

"Showoffs." Ukyou muttered, and the others followed, oblivious to the gasps of astonishment below.

"Which way?" Ranko asked, glancing around. "I got totally disoriented in that place."

"You girls are hopeless." Ranma muttered.

"They're lost without a compass." Ryoga agreed.

"I daresay, I resent that." Ryoko growled from just behind them.

"Bye!"

"Gotta go!"

And the two boys sprinted off across the rooftops, four mallet wielding girls in tow.

* * *

They came to a stop at the edge of town, coming back down to street level. The guards stationed at the entrance to the main street looked on curiously, but did not, to the Nerimian's great relief, leave their posts to investigate.

"Wait!" a familiar voice cried, just before they could leave.

"Are we ever gonna get away from this town?" Ukyou muttered as they turned. Tiris and a short haired girl they didn't recognize were running towards them.

"We're...coming...with you." the girl gasped out as she bent over, trying to catch her breath. "You guys...are too fast..." she complained.

"Hello again." Tiris said, grinning at them in surprising good humor. He didn't look nearly as winded as the girl.

"Um...Hi Tiris." Akane said, looking curiously at the back of the girl. "How can we help you?"

"We'd like to travel with you for a bit, if its not too much trouble." he said, his grin getting bigger.

"I'm ready." the girl said, straightening at last. Then they got a good look at the face.

"NINA?!"

"What?" she asked, innocently.

"Your...your hair!" Akane said, pulling her own long hair protectively over her shoulder.

"Well, if I'm running away, I felt I should do it properly. No one's gonna recognize me like this." she said smiling.

"Running away?" Ranko asked with interest.

"Well, sorta. I'm more running away from mother. Daddy supports it, though. He even gave me a top secret assignment!" she said happily. "Now I can finally do something -for- Wyndia, rather than just sit and watch."

"Good for you! I could live with a queen like you around!" Ryoko said enthusiastically.

"Perhaps we should discuss this on the way." Tiris suggested, eyeing the guards who were trying hard to get close enough to hear without looking guilty.

"Okay. Can you guys keep up a pace?" Ranma asked.

"Yeah, of course we can!" Nina said indignantly.

"I think they mean jogging, princess." Tiris said appologetically. "And no, we can't do that for very long."

"Well, it can't be helped." Ryoga said with a sigh as they started out. "Maybe we should get you guys horses."

"No. We actually won't be traveling with you for very long." Tiris said as Wyndia dropped out of sight behind them. Nina was staring open mouthed at them.

"What?" Ranma asked, finally tired of her eyes on them.

"You guys -ran- all the way from Nerima?" she asked, incredulous.

"Well, Juubun actually. Its alot faster than walking." Ryoga said with a shrug.

"What do you mean you're not staying with us for very long?" Akane interrupted.

"Oh! Well, we wanted to be seen leaving with you, so that when mother sends people out looking they'll follow you instead. We actually have to deliver a message to Nerima!" Nina explained. "But if you guys are going to run, I don't think they'll be able to -catch- you to check if I'm there!" she added, giggling.

"You're going to Nerima!" Akane said in surprise. "Can you deliver a message for me as well?"

"Sure!" Nina said happily.

"I wrote it yesterday, and was going to find a runner to send it back, but this would be much better." Akane said, pulling and envelope out of the side of her pack. "Just take it to the Tendou dojo. Okay?"

"I'll get it to you dad." Nina replied, taking the letter and putting in her own pack.

"Its not fair." Ryoko said suddenly. Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"What?" Ryoga asked, confused.

"Before I was the only short haired blonde, then she came. So then I was the only short haired girl. But now I have a look alike!" she said indignantly.

"I disagree." Ranma said critically.

"About what?" Ryoko asked with a frown.

"You don't have a look alike. You're still short." he said with a straight face.

"...I despise you." she said bitterly.

"Care for a round of Ranma bashing?" Ranko asked, cracking her knuckles in a most desturbing fashion.

"Hey! What'd I do to you?" Ranma said indignantly.

"I'm the same height, so I can resent it too!" she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"What's with you?" Ukyou asked Akane as the fight began to escalate.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Akane asked in surprise.

"Aside from the fact you're holding your hair as if you expected it to run away, nothing." Ukyou replied, raising an eyebrow at her. Akane realized she had unconciously pulled her hair over her should protectively again.

"Oh, sorry." Akane said, blushing. "Its just that I grew my hair out so a guy I liked would notice me."

"Really? Who?" Ukyou asked with interest.

"Tooofffuuu!" someone whispered in Akane's ear.

"AAAHH!!" she yelped, leaping away from the grinning Ryoko. Akane hadn't even noticed when the argument had ended abruptly with Ranma left in the dust of two mallets.

"Who's Tofu?" Ukyou asked, eyes sparkling with surpressed laughter.

"-Dr.- Tofu's the guys she's had a crush on for years." Ryoga said, grinning toothily at Akane.

"Shut up." she muttered, blushing harder.

"Dr.?" Ukyou said, warming up to the game.

"Oh yes. Of course, between him and the boys at school, who else was there to choose?" Ranko said gaily.

"Yeah. I don't think Akane appriciated the morning fights as they boys tried to beat her for a date." Ranma added.

"Why would they do such a thing?" Nina asked, horrified.

"Because Kuno told 'em to in some speech or another." Ryoko laughed. "They had to beat Akane in battle to be worthy enough for a date."

"Shut up." Akane said again, trying in vain to stop blushing.

"Of course, it turned out Kuno'd been acting under a bet the whole time, and once he'd won, he called 'em all off." Ranma finished.

"I think Akane chased him for seven hours straight when she found out." Ryoga said thoughfully.

"And since Dr. Tofu didn't act like all those -boys,-" Ranko added, "he was the logical choice for her crush."

"SHUT UP!" Akane screamed, bringing her mallet down in rapid sucession on all four. "That feels better. Besides, Dr. Tofu already has someone he likes."

"Oh? Who?" Ukyou asked despite herself.

"...Kasumi." Akane finally answered.

*WHAM!*

The four dragon teens had just regained their feet, only to go crashing back down in a group face fault at this news.

"KASUMI?!" Ranko demanded in shock.

"Yeah. Its so obvious he likes her." Akane said, smiling a little.

"How so?" Ryoga asked skeptically.

"He acts all funny whenever she's around. His glasses fog up, and he acts so silly." Akane said, giggling a bit. "Once he danced all through town with his skeleton Betty just because Kasumi came by to visit."

"You're kidding me." Nina said, open mouthed.

"No, but Kasumi doesn't seem to notice! That's what's so aggravating!" Akane said, sighing.

Tiris cleared his throat, catching their attention.

"I'm sorry, but here is where we must part." he said, indicating the main road.

"Oh." Nina said in dissapointment. "Well, I've got to go then. I'd love to stay with you guys, but..." and she trailed off with a shrug.

"One thing." Tiris said. "The King wanted me to tell you. The bridge that separates us from East Wyndia, do you know of it?"

"Yeah, I think so." Ranma said slowly. "Why?"

"Well, some sort of monster has been attacking there lately. No one's been killed yet, but some have been seriously injured by it. You should be careful." he said.

"No problem." Ranko said, waving one hand.

"Yeah, we'll just beat it up if it trys anything." Ryoga agreed.

"...Of course they're forgetting how painful it was to fight the Nue." Akane said, arms crossed as she regarded the Brood teens through half closed eyes.

"Hey, we beat it, didn't we?" Ryoko said, smiling sheepishly.

"Well, we must be going before it gets too dark." Tiris said.

"Good bye! And good luck!" Nina said, following him down the trail towards the west.

"You too! And watch out for monsters!" Ukyou called after her.

"Well?" Ranma asked, gesturing to the right.

"Onward!" Ryoko said, and marched down the trail.

"...Where did she get that silly habit?" Akane asked as they followed quickly.

"I have no idea, honey." Ukyou replied, sweatdropping.

* * *

Nighttime showed the light of a campfire glowing softly amongst the trees. Six figures could be seen, lounging around, talking.

"Those monsters were hard to hit." Ukyou was saying.

"Yeah. They're fast little buggers. You couldn't hit any of them with your mini spatula's." Akane said.

"They're called a nut troop." Ranko explained. "The one with the bow was the nut archer, the one dressed in the little robe was the nut mage (You remember that fire spell, -don't- you Ranma.) and the one with the sword was the nut soldier."

"Yeah, they were made of wood, weren't they." Ryoga noted.

"But they're weak. If you get a good hit in, they die almost instantly." Ranma said smugly. He'd been the only one to physically hit one, the monsters being too fast for physical blows. Once they'd figured out they were weak to fire, well, they didn't have a lot of trouble after that.

"What about those volts." Ryoko said, poking Ryoga in the ribs.

"Shut up." he said, gritting his teeth.

"Oh, don't be so sour." Ranko giggled. "It was funny when you tried hitting it with your sword."

"Shut up." Ryoga said again, now grinding his teeth.

"But surely you should have realized that wouldn't have done any good," Akane said, joining in the fun.

"Must of been quite a shock." Ranma added.

"Yeah. I mean, swinging a metal sword into pure electricity, sugar?" Ukyou said in mock amazement, "How silly."

"..." Ryoga was determined not to rise to their bait, and tried to ignore the peals of laughter coming from every side. It wasn't like he'd known it was made of electricity, after all.

When they'd calmed down, silence hung over the campfire, only broken by the chirping of crickets and the hoots of owls.

"Well, we'd better get to bed." Ranma said, getting up with a yawn. "We should hit the bridge tomorrow, and there's that monster that supposedly hangs out there. Maybe we'll get an actual workout in this time."

"You'd better hope its not as powerful as the Nue!" Akane chided, getting up as well.

"Aw, we took care of it! Besides, we're stronger now, so even a Nue wouldn't give us too much trouble. I can cast a Sirocco by myself now." Ranko said proudly.

"I still like my Myollnor." Ryoga muttered.

"Yeah, but it only hits one of them." Ryoko reminded him.

"I'm working on that." he grumbled.

"Well, if we do have to fight the monster tommarrow, we need rest. Goodnight!" Ukyou said, and retired to her sleeping bag.

"Yeah, alright. I just want to work on a couple spells." Ranma said, turning towards the woods.

"Can I come?" Ranko asked, bounding over to him.

"Sure. You two coming?" he asked at the Hibiki twins.

"Why not?" Ryoga said with a shrug.

"If you guys don't kill yourself with all your training..." Akane grumbled as she fell tiredly into her own sleeping bag. She didn't know how they could have this much energy so late, but maybe it was a Brood thing?

* * *

"Behind you Ranma!" Ranko called out. She watched as her brother leaped up, flipping forward so he could swing his sword through the goblin just behind him.

"Flare!" Akane called, casting her spell at the Nut archer aiming at Ukyou.

"Lightning!" Ukyou said, and hit the remainder of the Nut troop. The rest of the monsters were all down by the time Ranma landed from his jump.

"Like I said, they're getting too easy." Ranma said, resheathing his katana.

"Maybe for you!" Akane panted. "How can you dodge those stupid archers?" She was bleeding from one of the little arrows which had hit her leg.

"Just cause you're a slow clumsy tomboy..." Ryoga smirked, and was spatulad by Ukyou, who was closer.

"Its not fair for you two to team up like that!" Ranma said indignantly.

"Just think of it as a challenge to get away from both of us." Akane said, drinking one of the blue tonics. The wound on her leg closed, but didn't heal completely. "These things don't work very well any more." she said, tossing the little vile aside. It vanished mid air, going back to where ever it came from.

"Naah. You're just getting too good for them to be effective." Ranko said absently. Akane blinked in surprise. Had that just been a compliment?

"Well, that's about it." Ukyou said, checking around once more to be sure she'd gotten all her mini spatulas.

"Onward!" Ryoko and Ranko chorused, marching off.

"Not her too!" Akane groaned, slapping her forehead in exaggeration.

"Let it go, honey, just let it go." Ukyou said, smiling.

"Hey Niisan, how soon 'til the bridge?" Ryoko called over her shoulder as the others jogged to catch up.

"Well, if this thing's accurate, then it should be about...two miles up the road." Ryoga said, pulling the map out of his pack.

"So at this pace, and taking into account the monster attacks, about ten minutes." Ranko said.

"Yeah. No need to rush after all." Ranma replied.

"...I wonder if they know how strange that would sound to anyone else. A ten minute two mile is slow?!" Akane said in disbelief. She used to be able to do three miles in about a half hour, and that only when she really tried hard! Had she improved that much?

"Hey Niisan, where's that?" Ryoko asked, dropping back a bit, leaving Ranma and Ranko in the lead. She was pointing to a spot on the map which was marked "Plant."

"That? I have no idea. I've never been there." Ryoga said, frowning.

"Its where they use chrysm ore to improve crops." Akane said promptly. She was met with blank stares.

"Chrysm is sorta like magic. They use it there to make food bigger, better, and cheaper." she tried again.

"Oh. I get it. Where does the chrysm come from anyways?" Ryoko asked.

"Dauna mine, way back here." Ukyou said, pointing to the north west of Nerima. "For some reason chrysm ore is only found there."

"Well," Ryoga said, rolling up the map and stuffing it back in his pack, "We're not likely to go there any time soon, so no wor--" he broke off as Ranko and Ranma began arguing loudly.

"No way! Two swords are much better than a katana! If you lose one, you always have a back up!" Ranko said stubbornly.

"Uh uh. A katana is lighter, and is easier to use." Ranma retorted.

"You guys! Be more quiet! Aren't you scared you'll alert the monster?" Ukyou hissed at them.

"Yeah yeah. It's just a stupid monster." Ranma grumbled, flashing a smile at his sister.

"Of course! Nothin' can scare a Saotome!" Ranko replied, smiling smugly back.

Just then, a shadow fell across the pigtailed twins. A figure was silhouetted against the sky at the top of the hill they were climbing. The six teens threw their packs aside, and reached for their weapons. Ranma and Ranko stopped short, however, as their gazes finally fixed upon the shape of the monster. It began to growl low in its throat.

"C...c..." Ranma began, backing up a few steps, forgetting his sword in its sheath for the moment.

"What's up?" Ryoko asked quickly, coming to stand a few feet behind the Saotome twins.

"...c...c..." Ranko continued, bringing her fists up to her mouth, eyes wide in horror.

"Get your swords out!" Akane snapped, as the rest fanned out along the trail.

"CAAAATTTT!!!!" they both screamed in terror, then turned right around and plowed through the others, knocking them aside in their frantic flight.

They dissappeared into the woods, and soon an impact was heard, followed shortly by another. The were-tiger had a BIG sweat drop on its head as it watched two massive trees topple slowly to the ground.

"Nothing scares a Saotome, eh?" Akane muttered as she picked herself off the ground.

"I'll get them for this." Ryoga muttered vengefully.

"Owie." Ryoko said, rubbing her cheek where Ranko's elbow had nailed it as she passed.

"What made 'em run off like that?" Ukyou asked. "Certainly not the monster. They've been looking forward to this fight for days!"

"Did you catch what they were screaming about?" Ryoko asked the others.

"Nope. I was too busy getting run over." Ryoga said darkly.

"Sigh, oh well. We can always go after them later." Ryoko said. A wall of air smacked into them just then, sending them all back to the ground.

"...What is it with you monsters and interrupting conversations?!?!!" Ryoko sceamed, getting right in the startled were tiger's face. It replied by swatting her tumbling into the bushes at the side of the road.

"I knew it would be like the Nue." Akane muttered. "Typhoon!" she said, calling out her most powerful wind spell. The wind whipped around the were tiger, slicing it as easily as her axe would have.

"Kya!" Ryoko yelled as she came shooting out of the woods again, returning the favor in the form of a kick to its chest. It flew into a nearby tree, almost cracking it completely in half.

"Stop going so easy on it." Ryoga admonished.

"But..." Ryoko began.

"Later you two." Ukyou said, rolling her eyes. "Its probably best to keep you distance. Its fast." she continued, sizing up the beast as it lurched to its feet. "Ice blas--Hey! I said stay AWAY!" Ukyou called after the twins who'd both gone charging at the recovered beast.

"Where's the fun in that?" Akane said sarcastically. "Oh no. Its much more fun to risk life and limb if at all possible."

"Well, if they get in my way, its their problem. Ice blast!" Ukyou cried.

The sight was amusing to say the least. Ryoga was in a mid air kick, which was block by one of the monster's arms, while Ryoko had just begun a leg sweep when Ukyou's spell hit. The ice obediantly began forming around the were-tiger's legs, but as it traveled swiftly upward spread over Ryoko, then Ryoga as well. For an instant, they were all encased in ice in some wierd parody of a statue, then the ice shattered.

"You stupid, uncute, clumsy..." began Ryoko hotly.

"Slow, idiotic, thick witted..." Ryoga continued.

"TOMBOY!" they chorused, and were immediatly sent flying by the were-tiger who hadn't bothered to pause at the spell. Trees could be heard breaking, and neither twin returned.

"Serves them right for letting their guard down like that." Akane sniffed.

"They should know they get what they deserve sooner or later. Imagine, -me- uncute! I am the embodyment of cuteness." Ukyou boiled.

"Not growing an ego there, I hope." Akane said, sweatdropping at the fuming Ukyou.

The were-tiger, having taken care of half the fighters, turned confidantly to the remaining two, expecting them to flee. It was therefore unpleasantly surprised to be on the recieving end of a double spell attack.

"Flare!"

"Jolt!"

It is not, it should be noted, nice to be systematically fried and shocked at the same time, or at all for that matter, but especially by two rather annoyed female martial artists looking for and excuse to vent some frustration.

"Smokin'" Ryoga commented, leaning against a tree lazily.

"Shocking." Ryoko disagreed, leaning opposite him. "Still, for the injinuity..." and she held up a card reading '7'.

"I disagree. I think it was a wonderful combo." Ryoga said, holding up a nine. "It could have been more powerful, but no one can be perfect, can they? Well, unless they're me." he amended.

"...ALRIGHT! I GIVE UP ON YOU GUYS!" a new voice screamed. They looked in surprise to see a half cat, half human hybrid creature standing in the middle of the road. Its orange pants and vest were still smoking, and its already spiky blondish hair was sticking out in odd directions, sparking occastionally.

"What the heck?..." Akane said faintly.

"Where'd the monster go?" Ryoko asked, looking around in surprise.

"What's with you guys?!" the thing...boy? said, confusion written all over his face. "You don't act like normal people! Is fighting just a joke to you?! Why don't you just run away?" he asked in frustration.

"Er...Would we be classified as normal?" Ryoga asked nervously of the other two.

"No." Akane said firmly.

"Most definately not." Ukyou agreed, just as firmly.

"Besides, fighting is very serious! Its not something to just run away from." Ryoko added hotly.

"What about the other two?" the boy asked pointedly.

"...Never mind them! They're not us!" Ryoga said quickly.

"Who are you?" Akane asked, still in a ready stance.

"...What's it to ya anyways." the boy muttered, turning away.

"'Cause you tried to kill us, thats what." Ryoko said right in his face, making him leap backwards in surprise.

"How?...I mean...Oh, nevermind. I'm Rei if you really need to know." the boy said sullenly.

"What're ya doin' attacking people?" Ryoga demanded at his side, making him jump again.

"Will you -stop- that?!" Rei demanded nervously.

"What?" Ryoga asked in confusion.

"Stop sneaking up on people." Ukyou said from right behind him, proving her point by making him jump in surprise.

"Oh alright." Ryoko said, grinning at her.

"...I was waiting for someone to cross here. I heard they go this way every so often, so I wanted to get here first." Rei said, answering the earlier question. "I attacked people when I thought it was them. Only it never was. But I never killed no one." he said defensively.

"What on earth did they do to you that is important enough to hassle innocent bystanders?" Akane demanded, finally putting away her axe, much to Rei's relief.

"None of your business." Rei snapped, turning once again to leave.

"Oh no you don't! You're not going anywhere until we get answers, buddy." Ukyou said dangerously.

"Why do you care anyways!" Rei yelled, whirling to face her.

"Because we have a right to know, we can beat you up easily and make you tell us," Ryoga began, ticking of the point on a finger.

"We can go back to Wyndia and tell the King about you, and have him send in soldiers to destroy and/or capture you, but most of all, because we're curious." Ryoko said finishing.

"We can't let you keep attacking people." Akane added, glaring at Rei again.

"...They killed my family. There, ya happy." Rei spat, turning his back on them.

"...Eto, sorry 'bout that." Ryoko said guiltily.

"It's alright." Rei said, seeming to become swallowed by depression. "They killed my only family." he repeated after a moment. He kept his back to them, speaking quietly. "We were orphans, and best friends. Just me, Ryu and Teepo. Had to steal to get along sometimes, but never did anything really wrong. Then we stole from the wrong person. They followed us, burned down our house, and killed my friends. I only survived by luck."

Rei clenched a fist, staring at it as he continued. "So I've spent my life tracking them down, so I could one day have my revenge. If I hadn't been such a coward back then, I'd have used my powers to protect my friends!" he said savagely, blood beginning to run from his clentched fist. A light touch on his arm made him glance in surprise at Ukyou.

"Who were they?" she asked quietly. He stared at her for a minute. She seemed so...sincere. He gave himself a mental shake.

"Two creatures called Balio and Sunder. They're like me, but horse instead of cat." Rei said, fighting down another wave of anger at the memories burning brightly in his minds eye. "But I don't know what to do now. If I can't even beat a couple of kids, how can I hope to beat those two." he muttered, falling back into depression.

"We could help you." Akane suggested quietly.

"What?" Rei said, looking at her in surprise.

"I said we could help you. If someone is cruel enough to kill a couple of kids, I for one don't want them walking around." she said, eyes burning in anger.

"...I don't need any help. I just need to train harder." Rei said abruptly.

"I think you do need help," Ryoga said firmly. "Plus, if you don't come with us, we'll have to turn you in. You wouldn't want to sit in a jail cell for the rest of your life, would you?" he added, giving him a fanged smirk.

"No. I work best alone." Rei said resolutely.

"I didn't want to have to use this." Ryoko said regretfully, slowly approaching the suddenly nervous Rei. "I only use it in desperate situations, but if it'll convince you to come with us..."

"Ryoko! Don't change--" Akane, Ukyou, and Ryoga chorused, but Ryoko went into action. Rei braced himself for an attack, crossing his arm protectively infront of him, and ducking his head behind them. He had his eyes closed, waiting for what ever it was. When nothing happened, he cautiouly looked up, and came face to face with Ryoko.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeease come with us?" Ryoko asked ultra cutely, eyes as wide as they would go.

"I...uh...well...yeah..." he studdered, not sure what was happening.

*WHAM!* the other three face faulted.

"What?" Ryoko asked innocently as they suddenly loomed over her.

"Don't scare us like that!" Ryoga said angrily.

"What, you didn't think I'd actually -hurt- him, did you?" she asked indignantly.

"No, but you almost gave everyone the shock of their lives." Ukyou muttered, putting a hand to her forhead in exasperation.

"What just happened?" Rei asked, still confused.

"You just suffered from a 'cute' attack." Akane muttered.

"And you agreed to come with us." Ryoko added, very pleased with herself.

"But..." he began.

"Do you want her to do it again?" Ukyou asked bluntly, indicating Ryoko who was trying hard to look innocent.

"...Fine. I'll come with you." Rei sighed, defeated. "By the way, what happened to the other two?" he asked, looking around as if he expected them to pop out suddenly. His tail twitched a bit as he remembered the two -big- trees falling...

"Oh! I forgot about them." Ryoko said, turning to head along the flight path of the pigtailed martial artists. A little ways into the forrest they found Ranma out cold at the base of a -massive- tree stump. Rei and Ryoga continued in a little further and found Ranko in a similar fashion. Rei looked at her, sweating.

"She didn't knock down that tree, did she?" he asked nervously, looking at the three foot diameter of the stump.

"I think she did." Ryoga said, big sweating.

"Why the heck did they freak out?" Akane asked when they came up, Ryoga carrying Ranko over his shoulder. He laid her gently down next to Ranma, then looked over to where Ryoko stood regarding them.

"I don't know why either of them freaked out. I wasn't scared or anything, so why should Ranko be?" she said, staring thoughtfully down.

"Why would it matter if you were scared or not?" Rei asked, confused.

"Ukyou, could you explain please." Ryoko said, looking put upon. She did NOT want to explain her story again.

Rei's eyes were wide by the time Ukyou finished the short version of events.

"And I thought -I- was mad..." he muttered. Before anyone could say anything else, there was a moan from one of the prone figures.

"Ow! What hit me?" Ranma asked, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"A tree." Rei answered simply.

Looking up at the unfamiliar voice, Ranma screamed and leapt twenty feet straight up to cling to the trunk of a tree.

"Keep away!" he said hysterically, wide eyes fixed on Rei. Rei looked startled, but soon was smiling evily up at the pig-tailed boy.

"What, scared of little old me?" he asked, baring his teeth. Ranma just whimpered. There was another moan followed by a screaming flight, and Ranko joined Ranma in tree hugging.

"What's wrong, Ranko?" Ryoko called up to her.

"Cat! Keep away!" she shrieked, clutching tighter to the trunk.

"I don't think we'll get any answers as long as they're so scared." Akane told Rei, who was still grinning up at the pig-tailed siblings. He looked at her, then sighed.

"Oh, alright. I'll stop." he said. His form shrank again, and they were looking at a boy about their age with long, blonde hair tied back, and his bangs held back by a headband. His eyes, however, stayed the same; a brilliant blue slitted like a cat's.

"Cool..." Ukyou commented off-handedly.

At the disappearance of the cat, the two Saotome's slid slowly down the trunk to land carefully on the ground. They still looked warily at Rei. Ryoko stepped up to stare right in Ranko's eyes.

"Now tell us." she said, glaring, "what this is all about."

Ranko chuckled nervously, then said, "No idea."

"What do you mean? You're terrified for no reason?" Akane said incredulously.

"Well, basically, yeah." Ranko said, shuffling her feet in embarrassment.

Ranma had a hand over his face and was muttering something about panda steaks.

"I think I know what it is." he said, looking around at everyone. They stared back expectantly. "She got it from me."

"And why are you scared of cats, oh great Saotome?" Ryoga asked sarcastically.

"Ha ha." he said dryly. "It's my stupid oyaji's fault. When I was younger, he came across a training manual for an ultimate technique; the Neko Ken."

"So what's a technique have to do with anything?" Ukyou asked impatiently.

"Let me finish. Well, the training consisted of wrapping the trainee in fish sausage and throwing him into a pit of starving c..c..you know. Stupid oyaji hadn't ready the entire manual. On the second page it said quite plainly that anyone who trained someone in this technique was a fool as the trainee goes insane." Ranma said, shuddering.

"My god, that's inhuman!" Akane said, horrified.

"That's not the end." Ranma said, smiling grimly at her. "He -then- tried throwing me in there again, hoping to get rid of my fear that way. He tried fish cakes, catnip, fish paste...obviously none of them worked." he then laughed rather unpleasantly. "But I learned the technique."

"You did? But how does it work?" Ukyou asked, her heart aching for her childhood friend.

"If I'm around a c...one of those things for too long, I go...insane like I said, and act like one as well. At least, that's what oyaji said. I don't remember anything." he said, shrugging.

"So Ranko got this fear from you?" Rei asked curiously.

"I guess." he replied. "Since it was part of the technique, and our techniques didn't cancel out like you sense of direction did, Ryoga, it must of effected her."

There was a moment of silence, then Ranko said, "I wonder if there's any market for panda coats?"

* * *

"So." Rei said that night as the usual campfire activities progressed.

"Hmm." Ukyou asked, looking up from where she was polishing her battle spatula.

"Are they always like this?" he asked, gesturing at the four dragon teens. They were presently arguing over some new spell or another. A less powerful version of Sirocco; Simoon they called it. Ryoga and Ryoko thought it wasn't useful because it wasn't as powerful, but Ranma and Ranko countered that it was easier to use, and not -that- much weaker than Sirocco.

"Yeah, basically. Why?" Ukyou replied.

"Just curious. By the way, who does the cooking?" Rei asked, glancing around the clearing.

"Oh, usually I do, but the others chip in every once in awhile. I'm the professional cook around here." she said, grinning at him.

"Okay. So Akane's cooking tonight?"

Ukyou's face went white. "NO! Why do you say that?" she in panic. He looked at her in surprise.

"She said she was. Didn't she tell you?" he asked, wondering at her strange behavior.

"Guys! We've gotta get outta he..." Ukyou called frantically, but was cut off as Akane came up, smiling. In front of her was a twitching pile of...something.

"Hey! I made dinner! It's curry rice." Akane said, absently whacking the sludge when it made a sudden attempt for freedom.

"Ack!" Ranko said intellegently.

"Ummm, thanks, but I, ah, just ate." Ryoga said nervously, wincing as the meal began eating its way through the bottom of the pan.

"What -is- that?" Rei whispered to Ukyou in horror.

"Dangerous." she said simply, trying hard to keep her stomach from turning.

"Ick!" he said as the stuff began changing colors, and absently triggered his first change in defensive-reflex.

"CAAAAAATTTT!!!!" was the resulting cry, as the Saotome twins took full advantage of their terror to go crashing away.

"We'dbettergofindthemandmakesurethey'renothurtcomeonRyoga!" Ryoko said in one breath, dragging the only slightly less panicked Ryoga with her.

"Hey! You won't get away that easily! I worked hard on this and you're gonna eat it!" Akane yelled, giving chase with mallet in one hand, cooking in the other. There was no doubt in anyone's mind which was more deadly.

"...So." Rei said as the clearing fell silent once again, all sounds of pursuit faded to silence.

"You get used to it." Ukyou said, calmly setting up her portable grill for some okonomiyaki.

"Will I survive it, though?" Rei asked retorically.

*WHAM!**WHAM!**WHAM!**WHAM!*

"Time will tell, sugar. Here, have an okonomiyaki! They're my specialty!" Ukyou said with a smile.

"...Thanks." Rei said at last. Get used to -this?!- He wasn't sure if this had been a good idea after all...