++++++++++

Genma was happily munching on some yummy food when a bonbori slammed into the table that held the food. He got in a ready stance as he turned to his attacker.

His attacker turned out to be a teenage girl with long purple hair. He estimated the girl to be a bit more than average in skill, and relaxed his stance. <Why old man eat my prize?> the girl questioned with an angry glare. "Huh?" Genma responded unintelligently. He turned to his daughter. "What did she say, Ko-chan?"

Ranko shooked her head. "I don't know! Ask our guide, he's there for something."

Genma sighed and turned to the guide mumbling about grudgy girls unwilling to forgive and forget about petty things. Ranko whacked her father with a convenient chair and growled. "Getting me cursed isn't petty!"

The guide sweatdropped as he translated for his customers. "Amazon champion ask why you eat her prize."

Genma looked confused. "Prize? Wasn't this a feast table where the spectators went for refreshments?"

The guide shooked his head and Ranko slumped her shoulders. "Baka."

"He, he." Genma looked nervously at the Amazon. If looks could kill then Genma would have been dead twenty times over. "Um...sorry?"

"I'm afraid that sorry won't do." A voice spoke up. Ranko and Genma looked for the direction of the voice. What they saw was a shrunken old lady perched on top of a long staff. Genma jumped back in surprise, or was that fear?

Genma quickly regained his composure before he spoke. No need to shame his self anymore just because that ghoul was so hideous. "What do you mean by that?"

The old lady smiled. "What I mean is that my great-granddaughter will have to kill you in order to gain back her honor."

"What!?!" Genma shouted. Ranko looked shocked at the ridiculous idea. Sure her father might have been stupid to eat her prize and he had some, okay, a lot of ridiculous ideas, but he didn't deserve to die.

Ranko turned to the scary lady, if she is a female since it was kinda hard to tell, and asked. "Does that mean that if I defeat your great-granddaughter in combat, I win this prize? Then that means that my father ate my food not hers."

Shampoo smiled, as did all the other Amazons that understood what the outsider said. She didn't have a chance against an Amazon, much less the champion. <I accept.>

After the guide translated what the girl said, Ranko turned to the violet-hair girl. "Fine, let's start. But don't take this personal okay? Cause I don't want you killing me just because I win or something."

The guide translated for the Amazon what the girl had said. Shampoo nodded falsely. As if, she thought, you could ever win against me. Besides, even if you do then you will have one amazon after you till the ends of the world, outsider.

Ranko and Shampoo both took their respectful places on each side of the log. They stood there for a while before charging at each other. Shampoo striked at Ranko's head with the bonbori but missed. She tried several more attacks but they were useless against the outsider. The girl seemed to weave in and out of her attacks like she was dancing. She growled in frustration as she jumped back to get more room. Xian Pu took a deep breath and once again charged at Ranko. "KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!!!" Her arms blurred as she striked at Ranko.

Ranko, being caught off guard, was punched a good one hundred times. This time it was Ranko who was forced to retreat in order to regain her balance. Man, thought Ranko as she smiled, this girl is full of surprises. That Chestnut Fist is a good one. She isn't as fast as I am and that technique won't catch me off guard next time.

Shampoo frowned when she noticed that her attack had only slightly fazed her opponent. What ticked her off was that the outsider was actually smiling! How dare you mock me, thought Shampoo angrily. That's it! Shampoo reached behind her back and her bonbori disappeared. In place of the steel maces were two Tai chis.

So this girl wants to use the swords eh, Ranko thought amused. Now let's see how well she can do when I use the katana. Ranko turned to look at her father. "Otousan the katana!" Her father reached into her pack and tossed her the katana. She caught it easily and took a stance difference from the Anything Goes.

The two girls now stood on the opposite side of the log. It seemed as if they were frozen in place for neither of them made a move. The Amazons gasped when Shampoo fell to her knees from the pain. The blade of her Tai chis fell in unison after she did. Shampoo was left with two handles of what used to be a durable Tai chi. Ranko slowly reshealthed her katana and jumped off the log. She looked at Shampoo and smiled good-naturedly. "Hey, you did a good job there. That Chestnut Fist really caught me off guard."

Shampoo stared at Ranko in shock when she realized that she had lost. Slowly the expression of shock turned to anger as Shampoo began advancing toward the outsider. I have lost, Shampoo thought, and to an outsider. I must give her the Kiss of Death. Just as she was about to give the kiss of death, a voice commanded her to stop.

<Stop, Shampoo! You must not give her the kiss of death!> Cologne yelled as she hopped her way toward her great-granddaughter. <You have already given your word not to kill her!>

Shampoo sighed and reluctantly stopped. There seemed to be some relief in the fact that she didn't have to give the outsider the kiss of death.

++++++++++++

In Cologne's hut...

Ranko and her father sat down on one of the Elder's chair. "Elder Cologne, I must thank you for stopping your great-granddaughter from giving me that kiss of death of yours."

Cologne nodded and smiled a bit. "She would have given you the kiss of death if she hadn't given her word not to kill you."

Ranko gulped slightly and glanced at Shampoo. Her eyes met Shampoo and there seemed to be the same relief in not having to be enemies.

Shampoo nodded her head. She glanced at Ranko and sighed in relief. Though she may have been mad at the girl for beating her, she was relieved that she didn't have to kill the girl. Shampoo had never taken a life before and hoped that she wouldn't have to ever. Besides, the girl was a good fighter and Shampoo herself was pretty lonely. With her being the best in the tribe, the females of Joketsuzoku was always jealous of her. The male side of the tribe was always trying to marry her.

Several other elders present were in deep thought. The girl had a high potential and it would profit the tribe if she could ally herself with them. Cologne seemed to be thinking the very same thought for she cleared her throat and spoke. "I see that you are very formidable martial artists and seem to be on a training trip."

Genma nodded. "Yes we have been traveling all across Japan and China learning all kinds of different styles of martial arts. We hear that the Amazon tribe Joketsuzoku has many different secret techniques that are very powerful. I was wondering if it would be possible for Ranko to learn them."

Cologne smiled. Perfect, she thought. "That would be fine since we have decided to adopt Ranko as an Amazon. Doing so she may stay here as long as she want and learn our techniques."

Ranko smiled. "Great more techniques!"

Cologne looked at Ranko thoughtfully. "I overheard you talking about getting cursed. Did you happen to be by Jusenkyou?"

Ranko nodded and shot an angry glance at Genma. "Yes, unfortunately. Baka Oyagi decided to take us to Jusenkyou. He is cursed to be a panda while I am to be a guy. Do you know if there is a cure for our curse?"

Cologne nodded sympathetically. "Yes, there is a curse but you'd have to wait for at least four months for the cure to work."

Ranko nodded excited. "Then it's no problem! We'll stay here as long as it takes to get cured."

"Then it is settled. Shampoo, why don't you show Ranko where her room is. Take her around the village so she can see what our home is like. She will be staying here a while so it would only be right to let her know the way around."

Shampoo happily agreed. "Ranko, come follow Shampoo." Ranko nodded and walked over to her. She turned to walk to the stairway and Ranko followed.

Ranko walked up the stairs of Cologne's house. When they had reached the top of the stairs she stopped Shampoo. "Wait!" Shampoo stopped midstep and turned around to face Ranko. Ranko smiled hopefully and held out her hand. "Truce?"

After a few minutes of trying to figure out what the Japanese girl said, Shampoo finally understood. She then looked on in amazement that the girl had asked to start over with her. It would have probably taken Shampoo a while to forgive someone who had wanted to kill her a minute ago. She smiled and reached out to shake the redhead's hand. "Truce. Friends right?" When Ranko had nodded without a bit of hesitation, Shampoo smile broadened.

+++++++++++

"Ranko, before I begin teaching you our Amazon techniques I want you to promise me that you will not teach any outsider that will harm us our techniques." Cologne patiently waited for Ranko to reply.

Ranko nodded, understanding. "Sure, I promise."

Cologne smiled. "That's very good because we need to protect ourselves against our two enemies. The Musk Dynasty and Mount Phoenix. The first technique I will teach you is the Bakusai Tenketsu, the Breaking Point."

Ranko looked on with interest as Cologne went up to a huge boulder and touched it with her index finger. To her surprise the boulder exploded, sending dust and small pieces of rock everywhere. "Oba-chan, can you do that again?"

Cologne looked surprise for a second when Ranko called her Oba-chan. Then, her smile broadened. Another great-granddaughter, she thought happily. "Sure I'll do it again for you. I could do it twenty times if you wanted but I don't think that you can learn from just watching me do this." She walked over to another boulder and touched it. The boulder exploded once again.

Ranko narrowed her eyes in concentration. "Again." Another boulder exploded. "Again." Yet another one exploded. Just a bit more, Ranko thought. "One more time." Cologne touched another boulder, which promptly exploded. "Yes! I got it!"

Cologne was confused at Ranko's intentions. She had done the Bakusai Tenketsu five times already. Why does she want to see it so many times, Cologne wondered. She was snapped out of her reverie when Ranko shouted.

Ranko walked over to another boulder and pointed at it with her index finger. The boulder exploded into small pieces hurling toward Ranko. "Ite! Maybe I should find a way so that it won't be so loud. Oh well. I guess I should do it this way so I can have a higher endurance level. And when it doesn't hurt anymore when I do this then I'll find a quieter way."

Cologne facefaulted. WHAM! She had mastered the Bakusai Tenketsu already! Dazed, Cologne walked toward the elders' hut while Ranko was busy blowing up more boulders.

The other elders were confused when Cologne came in muttering, "Three minutes. She mastered it in three minutes. I can't believe it. Three minutes."

"Mastered what in three minutes, Cologne?" Elder Lotion asked. She wanted to know what had happened that made Cologne so shocked. The other elders asked similar questions.

Cologne looked at the other elders. "Ranko mastered the Bakusai Tenketsu in three minutes! It had taken me at least three days to learn the Breaking Point and she learned it in three minutes!"

Mascara facefaulted. WHAM!!! She quickly scrambled to her feet and disbelief. Three minutes?!? That can't be. The fastest person to learn the Breaking Point was Cologne and it had taken her three days. Everyone present simultaneously looked out the open window and sure enough Ranko was using the Bakusai Tenketsu on every boulder she could get. Huge sweatdrops appeared on their heads.

++++++++++++

Ranko sat in her male form meditating on a large rock trying to reach his balance. After a while a thin line of blue surrounded him. Sweat dripped down her brow as he concentrated harder to increase his chi aura making it more visible. Slowly the aura around Ranko began to thicken and grow stronger. His concentration was broken when a battle cry was yelled.

"RANKO YOU I KILL!!" He rolled out of the way as a staff hit the spot where he had been a second ago. He whirled around and backhanded his attacker. The figure flipped over smirking as she touched the spot where Ranko had hit her. She then got in a ready position with her staff in front of her.

Ranko loosened his stance and assessed his attacker's skill. His opponent was obviously female and very skilled. Finishing his assessment he dashed forward and delivered several lightning fast punches, all of which were dodged. His attacker however was not idle for she also threw back several punches at him. Ranko leaped into the air and did a 180-degree to get more space between him and his attacker. He was pleased to see that his opponent was not a bit winded or else it would have been disappointing. Time to bring up the notch, he thought.

The figure ran forward stabbing at high speeds towards him with her staff and Ranko had almost dodged all of them. Ranko rubbed the spot that had hit him and attacked full speed. His attacker was forced to go on the defensive. Ranko jumped over the figure and landed behind her. His attacker whirled around to face him but it was already too late. Ranko touched the staff and *CRACK!*. He smirked. "Now it evens it out don't you think?"

His only response was a frontal assault from his opponent. He dodged all of the punches and blocked ones that were too fast for him to dodge. "KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!!" He delivered several hundred lightning fast punches at his opponent whom, surprisingly, kept up with her blocking all of her punches. Well almost all. The figure flew back and hit the nearby tree. She had seemed a bit shocked that her punches had gone through her defense.

Ranko went to finish off his opponent, intent on knocking her unconscious...hey RANKO!! FOLLOW THE SCRIPT!!! (Ahem, oops)

Ranko smiled as he walked up to the fallen figure and held his hand out to help her up. The figure smiled back and took her hand. *CLAP, CLAP!* They both turned towards the clapping and saw Cologne perched on her long staff watching them both. "Very good fight," She said while hopping over. "Shampoo, you should watch your defense more and you shouldn't have allowed Ranko to disarm you so quickly.

Shampoo pouted while she stood up. "Yes Great-grandmother." Cologne nodded and then turned around hopping back to the village on her staff.

Ranko smiled as he saw Shampoo pout. "Hey, Sham-chan. Don't worry you did great the only reason why you were so easily disarmed was because you were worried about harming me." Shampoo looked at him surprised, not expecting him to find out. "Aw, come on. I am very observant and I can tell if you are holding back or not. Besides that 'RANKO YOU I KILL' thing totally gave away your position. How are you suppose to sneak attack someone while yelling out a battle cry like that?"

Shampoo looked a bit sheepish. "Hey, Ranko no do better. Ranko also yelled 'KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN'. That give away what attack Ranko perform." Shampoo smirked a bit when it as Ranko's turn to look sheepish. Then Shampoo got a thoughtful expression on her face as she pondered something. "Ranko know something, Shampoo think Shampoo say you I kill it seem fun."

Ranko raised an eyebrow. "Or maybe it is just destiny, I mean if I hadn't unknowingly made you promise not to kill me you would have probably said that anyway."

Shampoo thought about it for a while and nodded. "Shampoo think maybe Ranko right."

Ranko smiled and put an arm around his friend's shoulder. "Sure. I'm just glad to know who's the better one out of us. How about we go grab something to eat and work on your Japanese." Ranko smirked when he saw Shampoo give him an annoyed look.

Shampoo then got a sly look that gave him the shivers. He let go of her and stepped back slightly. "Yes, Ranko too too strong for Shampoo. Ranko beat weak Shampoo. Now Ranko must be Airen. Give Kiss of Marriage now!" Shampoo made a lunge for Ranko who nimbly dodged. "Come Airen! Airen Shampoo need give Kiss of Marriage!" Shampoo could barely hold back her laughter as she chased her cursed friend back and forth.

Ranko yelled frantically while trying to avoid his friend's 'Amazon Glomp.' "Ahh! I didn't mean it Sham-chan! Come on..."

Standing by the bushes near the clearing the two girls were, two small figures stood watching. Cologne and Mascara laughed uncontrollably as they watched the scene unfold before them.

+++++++++++

Shampoo smirked as she saw Ranko struggle to catch up with her. <You are too slow, Ranko.> She refrained from laughing as her 'sister' pouted.

The red-haired girl shook her head violently. <Ah-uh! I'm not slow! HA!> She looked down at the large textbook in front of her and her confidence faltered. Everything in it was written in Chinese and she couldn't understand one hundredth of it. She wearily looked at the pile on the table to her right. And this was ONLY English. She still had the history of the Amazons, algebra (Can you believe it? They had math in a small village in China too!), martial arts books (all in Chinese, sigh!), and some music. Ranko reread the same line over and over again. <Umm...Sham-chan? What does this say? Always lovey dovey an animal?>

Shampoo fell to the ground laughing uncontrollably. <What?!> Jumping to her feet, Ranko snapped in Japanese at her friend. The helpless (for now) Amazon girl managed to say, <Haha!...*gasp*...N-not..t-that...*giggle*...A-a-always..HAHA!!...c-check t-t-the an-animal..*gurgle*...b-b-before..k-k-KILLING!! BWAHHHHAHAHAHAH!!!!>

Staring blankly at the book on the table and her face flushed she muttered out one word. "Oh..." Half an hour later, Lotion, their teacher, walked into the hut to find the violet girl rolling on the ground laughing like crazy and their foreign friend, face as red as a tomato.

<..Huh?>

+++++++++++

A tall boy sat his legs crossed by a large lake. The lake was beautiful and filled with sparkling water. Birds chirped happily from their nests and a single baby rabbit hopped into its burrow. Soft ripples formed in the crystal water as he flicked a small stone across the lake. "One...two...three..." Counting the number of jumps the stone made he heard a soft giggle. Turning to the source of the laughter he saw an Amazon female. "Hey! Hmph! Cut that out, it's not like YOU can do any better!"

Shampoo laughed, her long purple hair swaying. Casually flicking a pebble she found on the ground she smirked lightly. The stone had jumped five times. "Gotcha." Shampoo had said that on purpose, a word that Ranko had continually teased her with after winning a sparring match. She watched satisfied as her friend sputtered in frustration.

Ranko frowned at his friend for a moment and then burst out laughing too. "So you won that one. Don't be so confident though. I will catch up with you and you know it. So for now, go jump in the lake."

Shampoo blinked and female cry of surprise was heard following by a loud splash in the lake. "Ahhh!! RANKO!!" Pulling the girl-turned-boy into the water with her the two friends began a splashing playfully at each other. Loud laughter soon followed.

+++++++++++

She frowned and crossed her arms angrily. She tilted her face slightly to her companion and glared. <Why not?>

Ranko sighed as she leaned against a trunk of a tree. <We've been through this many times already! We are not going to be killing him! No way!> Something in her voice said that the discussion was over. Then, again, Shampoo was pretty stubborn herself.

<WHY?> She uncrossed her arms and pulled out the spear from where it was embedded into a tree branch. The defiant Amazon pointed the spear at the topic of their controversy. <He's nothing!>

<Nope.> She bent down and reached for Shampoo's victim. He purred relieved into her chest. <You are not killing the poor kitty. Uh uh. Besides, he's so cute.>

Shampoo stared at her friend incredulously. <You call that a little kitty? You're holding a panther for Bast's sakes!> It was true. In the slender redhead's arms was a large black panther. A very rare one too. Very yummy indeed.

Ranko pouted. <But he's cute! A panther is still a cat you know.> She scratched his left ear causing the soft purring to grow louder.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever." Shampoo lowered her spear and stared long and hard at the content panther.

Ranko smiled. Shampoo was using another one of her expressions. <You catch on fast.>

Shampoo had to admit the panther DID look cute in a twisted sort of way. <What are you going to do with him? Some other person is going to kill him anyway.> She walked up closer to the big kitty and petted him. He purred to her amazement. She had been trying to kill it only seconds ago! Looking from the panther to Ranko she shook her head. Just like Ranko.

An uncertain look appeared on Ranko's face. <Well...I'm not so sure...but...do you think that we can keep him?> Seeing her friend's reaction she sighed. <Really! I'm not kidding so wipe off that 'are you kidding?' look from your face.>

Shampoo sighed. <Fine, fine. Let's go see Oba-chan. She'll probably allow him to stay. Besides,>She added in as an afterthought. <He could defend the village with some proper training.>

Ranko nodded excited. <Then it's settled! What should we call him, Lotion?>

Shampoo glared frustrated at the smirking redhead. <I told you! Our names aren't beauty products on purpose! It's just coincidental!>

Ranko smiled. <I know.> Shampoo lunged at her set on getting revenge. <Hey!> Ranko was tackled to the ground. 'Lotion' gave a meow of protest. <Stop! Heehehe....s-stop!> Thus the battle of tickling began.

+++++++++++

Ranko and her father stood in front of the villagers. Shampoo sniffed sadly as she looked at her Amazon sister. Ranko was leaving. After staying in China for over a year, Ranko was going back to Japan.

Ranko solemnly walked over to her best friend in a long time. She wrapped her arms around Shampoo and softly cried. "I am going to miss you Shampoo. Thank you for everything that you have done for me. Take care of Lotion."

Shampoo also cried as her friend had her in a tight embrace. "Ranko you will always be my best friend and good Amazon sister. I'm glad that you decided to stay here. Visit if you have a chance, okay?"

Ranko nodded. Then she turned to Cologne and the other elders. "I thank you for housing my father and I throughout my stay. Oba-chan, I will miss you too."

All the elders smiled sadly and watched as Ranko walked out of the village with her father. They felt like a part of their soul was gone when the redhead disappeared from view. They were going to miss the smiling girl they had come to like.

End Chapter Two Part One