Ryoga wandered aimlessly, trying to make heads or tails of the map he was holding as compared to his surroundings; which was to say a dense rainforest. Or what he supposed was a rainforest anyway. Not that it really mattered. Jungle. Forest. It was all the same. Dense foliage obscuring his path and too much space to lose himself in. It was no wonder they all looked the same after awhile.
As per usual, he was trying to reach Tokyo and getting nowhere near it. At least not right away, which was something else that had become routine. First he'd wander for a bit. Then, after asking directions X number of times (and getting them mixed up afterwards) he'd seemingly get further away. Yet, somehow, he'd eventually end up at the intended destination.
Ryoga shrugged inwardly. Life was funny that way.
Reaching into his collar, he produced a small compass which was attatched to a black cord around his neck and held it up to the map. East was where he was heading. Problem was, no matter which direction he turned, the damn thing wouldn't stop spinning. Ryoga supposed he was doing it wrong, either that or it was defective, and tucked it away again.
'Not like it was helping anyway,' he thought to himself.
After another moment's study, he gave up on the map and decided to wing it. Hell, he was already lost so what was there to lose? One foot placed in front of the other and soon he was on his way again.
It was times like these that he let his mind wander, partly to pass the time, but mostly as a way to stave of the feelings of shame and frustration brought on by his misguided sense of direction. Something which a certain pigtailed martial artist took no small amount of pleasure in pointing out. But, unlike his other curse, it wasn't something he could blame on Ranma. Nor was there a way to "fix" it.
'Jerk.'
And there it was again. Back to Ranma. Scowling, he dismissed the mental image of his rival's smug expression as he finally won Akane away "from him". Ryoga knew better of course, but found it was easier to pretend than face the truth. It wouldn't be so bad if it were someone else. 'Anyone else,' his inner self chimed in. It wasn't that he had anything against the idea of Akane being with Ranmma, but did he have to beat him at everything? Just once in his life, Ryoga wanted to be better than Ranma at something. He didn't particullarly care what so long as he could say "in your face!" for a change.
For a fleeting moment, Ryoga allowed himself a genuine smile at the thought of finally one upping Ranma.
'Wishing don't make it true ya know,' Ranma's voice reminded him.
With those words, Ryoga reverted to his usual sullen expression. He hated to admit it, but Ranma was right about that. No matter how hard he tried to pretend, or to ignore the signs, he knew he was fighting a battle he'd already lost. Head lowered, bangs concealing his eyes from view, he trudged on no longer caring where his footsteps took him so long as he kept moving.
Ryoga was so lost in thought, that he failed to notice that the flora around him had somehow changed. It was certainly brighter for one, and strangely alien in design. Nor did he notice the difference in the wildlife as unusual and exoctic birds flitted in the trees overhead. Or the ferret like animal that skitted across the path just ahead of him. Or how the dense, murky canopy had somehow given way to a fantasy like jungle with rays of sunlight filtering down below offsetting the bluegreen mistlike backdrop of leaves and trees. But more than anything, what he really failed to notice was he was being watched.
The formerly idyllic scene grew dark as first one pair then two, followed by dozens more appeared amonst the underbrush. Strange glowing eyes were upon him, clearly curious as to who this trespasser was. While they'd seen several of these "Earth persons" before (one who they were all too familiar with) it was still a bit odd to find yet another one here. And seemingly all alone.
There was indistinct chatter amongst them as their eyes darted from one another then back to Ryoga. Clearly they didn't know what to make of him. Though it was safe to assume that the matter in question was whether he was friend or foe.
The gradual increase in chatter finally snapped him out of his mental fog, alerting him to their presence; whoever, make that whatever they were. Ryoga would admit he wasn't the sharpest knife in the block, but even he could tell something just wasn't "right" about all those... Ryoga's eyes grew wide.
'No way! Are those.... bug eyes?!'
God he hoped not. A quick survey of the area quickly brought to his attention all the details he had missed before. Funny how all the wierd stuff (violent fiancees, lecherous old masters, and princes from far off lands aside) always happened to him. Just where had he wandered to this time?
Ryoga sharpened his focus, eyes narrowing, as he caught sight of movement in the bushes up ahead. Reflexively, he sank into a defnsive posture with one hand reaching back, wrapped firmly around the handle of his umbrella. It wasn't his usual prefferance, but it'd be reckless to go charging in without knowing what he was up against. Or their number.
As Ryoga stood pondering this, he heard what could only be a small explsion followed by paniked chattering as several bodies went airborn. Judging from the sounds, there was a struggle taking a small distance ahead to his right. Blows were landed in quick succesion as several more "bodies" hit the ground. Hard. Another blow was landed just then only this time there was a grunt. And, unless he was mistaken, it had come from a girl.
Sure enough, after another exchange, a girl did indeed stumble into view. One the likes of which he hadn't seen before. Still, he had no time to dwell on that because just then, several large bug like creatures lept from behind, intent on keeping Ryoga from interferring. Despite this, his concern was for the girl. Whoever she was, she seemed capable enough, but it was obvious she'd been fighting for sometime and was clearly reaching her limit. If he was going help her, he'd have to end this quick.
With that in mind, Ryoga drew his weapon and....
(Posted Tue, 20 Feb 2007 20:55)
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