Chapter 4: P-chan Gets Lost ^O.o^

                       

            The rampaging storm was growing fiercer with every passing moment. The black piglet whined against the wind, the cold droplets pouring over its thin fuzzy skin, drenching it to the bone. It paced slowly forward, desperate to find some form of shelter in the midst of the terrible tempest.

            The transformed Ryouga (also known as P-chan in this particular form) wondered for the zillionth time how he had ended up in the middle of this terrible rainstorm, not a clue as to where he was going or where he had come from. The memory of what happened earlier that day came back to haunt him…

 

            Ryouga had lost his sense of direction again. Once more he was wondering where he had ended up. He had been on his way to see Akane again after so long a time and had ended up lost. It was then he had come across a very bizarre scene.

            Two creatures, one more human looking than the other, were in the middle of a fight. For some reason he couldn’t exactly explain at the moment, both reminded him of that ‘youkai’ thing that had attacked Kuno’s party a while back. The thing that had kidnapped Akane and Kagome…which he hadn’t been able to stop. Trying to follow Inuyasha and Ranma had only made him lost within Nerima. When he had found himself at the train station later, Akane and Kagome had already been rescued, Furinkan High destroyed and Inuyasha and Kagome leaving.

            He didn’t want to dwell on that.

            Ryouga watched the battle, half wanting to interrupt and get into the fray, hoping that he could get some good training out of it. But when one of them attacked with a howl and felled the trees behind his opponent (who very nearly didn’t move out of the way), he decided against it. He didn’t know what these things were fighting about, but he didn’t want to get involved.

            It was at that moment that the more human looking of the two noticed Ryouga.

            The youkai attacked the tree Ryouga was standing behind, slicing it in half. Ryouga took out his umbrella and readied himself for the fight. He wasn’t going to go down easy. But the other monster (the more oni-looking one) attacked the humanish one from behind and they both forgot about Ryouga quickly enough. It was only a few moments more before the human-looking one killed the other one, slicing through his opponent’s throat. Ryouga couldn’t help but wince.

            The only problem was that the youkai decided to remember he was there and promptly turned its sights on him. Ryouga barely dodged the oncoming attack. Whatever that thing was, it was fast. He moved out away, circling his new opponent. The wind howled and the skies darkened. Not a good sign. The youkai let out a cry and Ryouga covered his ears and dodged the sonic attack. He ran out of the clearing and into the woods, hoping to lose the creature following him.

            Not by much.

            The thing was closing in, having much more maneuverability in the woods than Ryouga. He made a quick dash to the side, behind a tree and skirted around a few more. The demon behind him only tore the trees out of his way in frustration.  At least Ryouga had bought himself a bit more time. He sped up a bit, hoping to put a greater distance, but that plan fell through when he burst through the forest and came to an abrupt halt. Ryouga stared in disbelief as he looked out over the cliff into the mountainous valley below. He heard the howl come from behind him and he dodged the sonic attack by a hairsbreadth. The monster came out of the trees then and launched itself at Ryouga.

            That was when the heavens decided to pity the poor cursed boy and sent down a torrent of rain. The youkai flew clear over the pig’s head and over the cliff, screaming as it hurled down into the canyon. Ryouga inched toward the cliff slowly and looked down. He shook his piggy head and began the march back into the woods.

 

            And now, hours later, he was still trudging through the cold rain, with only a glowing piece of a jewel to show for it. He had found it while he headed north through the forest (actually he had been heading east), and decided it would be a lovely gift to give Akane when he saw her again

            That is, if he ever saw Akane again. It was getting colder, wetter and darker, and there were still no signs of civilization. It was hard lugging all his supplies around as well. They were getting heavier with every step he took. Ryouga knew he was not going to make it. He would never see Akane’s wonderful smile again, feel her hug him, or hear her beautiful voice. His steps lagged. In a semi-conscious haze he continued forward, not knowing what direction he was head, only knowing he just had to keep moving.

            Another half hour of this mindless march in the terrible storm passed before he broke free of the forest. Ryouga didn’t even notice the solidity of the ground beneath his hooves. He continued onward until he could no longer move. He collapsed, little black legs splayed out on either side of him. He would have stayed there and slipped into unconscious-ness, if not for the loud “NYAO!” that rushed past him.

            He looked up and saw a fat cat rush by him and into a small, covered, closed-off shrine. With a burst of strength, he scrambled up and followed the cat into the dry sanctuary. He heaved with the effort and scurried inside, dragging everything with him.

            Once inside, he caught his breath, glad for the reprieve. He promptly passed out.

 

            Ryouga suddenly awoke to a strange pain in his leg. He blinked his little piggy eyes open and looked around trying to focus. Blue lines etched across his face as he realized the source of his discomfort. The cat he had followed in was gnawing on his leg with this hungry look in its eyes.

            He let out a squeal and moved away in a rush, freeing his leg from the cat’s jaws. The cat gave a meow of annoyance and began to follow the piglet. Ryouga cowered away from the cat with slow steps at first, but when the cat made his first pounce, Ryouga began his mad dash around the shrine.

            He ran for well over five minutes, dodging the pouncing cat and scurrying away before noticing the large well in the center of the shrine. He got to higher ground and dodged another leap from the frustrated cat. Then with a mighty heave, Ryouga jumped into the well. He realized abruptly that there was no water in the well. He squealed all the way down, knowing he was doomed. Ryouga prayed fervently that when he hit the bottom, he didn’t break every bone in his little piggy body. His eyes snapped open curiously when he felt the gentle touch of the ground beneath his back. He…landed…

            He scrambled up, looking around worriedly, but found nothing out of the ordinary. He was at the base of the dry well. He patted the ground. It was hard, but not soft either. How…? Ryouga shook his head, trying not to think about it. He wasn’t going to question his good luck. He looked up and started in surprise and worry. There were clear skies glowing above the opening of the well. Hadn’t this well been in a shrine…? Ryouga stared up, blinking in confusion. Well, he had been in a partial daze…and running for his life. Maybe he had imagined it all…? He shook himself and whined. Putting aside all the questions going on in his head, first thing first. He reached into his pack, which he had been lugging around, and pulled out the burner and the kettle with water. He would get out of this well and then figure things out once he was human again.

            He eyed the clear skies as he heated the water. He just hoped those blue skies didn’t betray him again…

 

            Ryouga hauled himself out of the well and looked around in confusion. He could have sworn this well had been in a shrine, not out in the open woods like this… He shook his head and tried to recall the previous night’s events. He remembered more woods than anything else. Endless woods. So maybe he had imagined the shrine… But what about the cat…? He looked around some more and saw smoke coming from nearby. Maybe the cat was from over there…? But he didn’t remember any people or anything…

            He shook his head, secured his pack and headed off into the woods, wanting to get where that smoke was coming from, hoping there was food there.

            Unfortunately, he headed in the opposite direction of the village. He walked for several miles, now losing completely the sight of the smoke. He looked around, but couldn’t find a sign of it.

            “WHERE AM I NOW?!” Ryouga shouted into the trees. Birds flew away and crickets chirped for a moment. Ryouga sighed. Then there was silence.

            He looked up in confusion at the abrupt quiet. He strained his ears but couldn’t make out a sound. What had happened…? A groaning sound came from behind him. He turned around slowly and his eyes widened as he saw a hideous giant snake coming at him.

            “SSSSSSSHIKON NO TAMAAAAAAAAAA…” it hissed as it approached him with gathering speed. Ryouga was frozen in place until the thing struck at him.

            Ryouga’s mind was blur as he dodged just out of instinct. Shikon no Tama? Why did that sound so damn familiar? What did this giant snake monster want with him…? The snake attacked again, hissing at Ryouga. He dodged, but got whacked with the tail end of the snake. Ryouga slammed against a tree and cursed. Why was he attracting all these monsters lately?! What did this stupid thing want?!

            “Get the hell away from me, you stupid snake!” Ryouga yelled as he came at the thing. The fight was on. Ryouga spent most of the time in the air, avoiding the tail and head attacks of the giant snake. It tried spitting acid at Ryouga, but only ended up melting a tree. Ryouga attacked from the high ground, beating it on the head with his well-placed punches and kicks.  The tail came at him from the side during one of his attacks and he couldn’t avoid it. He turned and took the hit full on, grabbing onto the tail and squeezing. The snake screeched and turned its poisoned fangs on Ryouga. It snapped at him, but Ryouga deftly moved out of the way and the snake ended up biting itself. Its scream echoed in the woods as it released itself and came at Ryouga again.

            But Ryouga was already coming at it, one finger pointed at its head. “Eat this, monster! BAKUSAI TENKENTSU!” His finger connected with its forehead and the head exploded into pieces, sending gray matter, acid, scales, green poisoned blood and skin all over the place. Ryouga quickly got out of the way of the dangerous pieces and rushed into the woods, hoping that nothing else would pop up. What kind of monster was that? And why was it after him? What the hell was a Shikon no Tama?

            Ryouga suddenly skidded to a halt. Shikon no Tama! That was what that ridiculous monster in Nerima had been calling out when it had attacked and then kidnapped Kagome and Akane! But what could that mean? They must’ve had some kind of glass ball that monster wanted… but what? He suddenly felt a warmth coming from his pocket. He looked and saw the piece of jewel he had found glowing brightly. Why was it doing that…? What…?

            There was a screech behind him. Ryouga turned and then made a mad dash into one of the bushes. A giant bird had swooped down at him, its talons reaching toward the shard in Ryouga’s hands. He looked down at the crystal. The monsters were after this thing…?

            He clenched it in his hands. No! He wouldn’t let them have it! This was his gift to Akane and there was NO way he was going let a monster was going to get a hold of it! Still holding it clenched in his hand, Ryouga rushed out of the brush. The giant bird came down for him again and Ryouga punched it with the fist holding the Shikon shard. He heard the cracking of countless bones just before the first was launched through several trees and into the depths of the wood. There was a loud crash and wail.

            Ryouga blinked in shock, his anger gone. He looked down at his hand and saw that it was glowing with aura of the crystal. He could never punch like that before. He opened his hand and saw he shard gleaming. Maybe… He grinned and clenched his fist, heading out of the forest (or so he hoped). He knew exactly what he was going to do with this little jewel.

            Before he gave it to Akane, he would beat Ranma with it first.

 

*          *            *

 

            One of the wolves came rushing into Kouga’s pack. The wolf-youkai prince looked at the hyperventilating wolf curiously. What had this guy so freaked?

            “What is it?” he asked, approaching the wolf.

            It barked, yipped, whined and howled with its message. Kouga’s serious expression turned to one of glee as he slapped his fist into his palm. His companions looked at him curiously. He turned to them in a rush and kicked them up.

            “Get up, lazy-asses! He just told me there’s a guy running around with a Shikon shard. Took out two youkai in a forest to the south of here. Say he’s heading right toward us, and it’s a human to boot.” Kouga grinned. “This is going to be fun! I’ll take that shard from that stupid little human without a problem!”

            “You sure about this, Kouga? Who knows what that human can do with a shard,” the one with the Mohawk said.

            “It’s just a human! Don’t be an idiot! He’ll be dead meat before he even knew what happened!” Kouga shouted, dismissing him.

            The wolf barked something else. Kouga’s ears perked up. “Oh, really now… Hmmm. Maybe this won’t be too easy then.”

            Kouga didn’t say anything else to his companions. He sped off in the direction the wolf had mentioned. The human had taken down a nasty snake youkai before using the Shikon shard? Hmmm… Maybe the human wasn’t such a wimp then. He could use a little exercise before he took the shard and made himself stronger.

            And once he had the shard, he would sniff out Inuyasha and final beat the stupid dog-turd to a pulp, and taking Kagome for his own. “Heh, heh, heh…” Yeah, that’s exactly what he’d do. Kouga increased his pace, eager to get the shard and Kagome.

 

*          *            *

 

            Kagome looked to the north briefly before shaking her head and continuing on. Akane, who was sitting behind Kagome on her bike, looked at her friend curiously.

            “What is it, Kagome?” Akane asked.

            Kagome shook her head. “I thought I sensed something familiar… but it must have been my imagination.” She sighed and looked ahead of her. The road seemed long and with Inuyasha and Ranma fighting up ahead, it seemed even longer than usual. She wondered what would happen when they finally did run into youkai…

            “Kagome?”

            She looked down at Shippou who was in the basket. “Yes, Shippou?”

            “Do you think Inuyasha and Ranma will ever get tired of fighting?” the little kitsune asked. He reached into his little jacket and pulled out a lollipop he had managed to snatch back from one of the kids in the village they had just left. He popped it into his mouth.

            “Highly unlikely,” Akane muttered from behind Kagome.

            Kagome nodded. “I just hope they have enough sense to fight together against the youkai when it comes instead of fighting each other.”

            Sango, who was riding Kirara next to them, shook her head. “I think those are some high hopes, Kagome-chan.”

            The three girls and kitsune sighed.