Ranma 1/2 is property and creation of Rumiko Takahashi, and whoever else... I have NO money, so PLEASE don't sue me! Now, on with the story.

* * what a character is thinking

Once Ryoga was fully clothed, Ranma began to speak. "As I was saying before, Akane's missing."

Ryoga walked calmly towards Ranma, an angry expression on his face. "So, what did you do to her THIS time, Ranma?"

"Hey, I didn't do nothin! All I did was refuse to eat her stupid cookies!" Ranma stated indignantly.

"Ranma! How could you be so stupid?!" Ryoga asked angrily, his hands clenching into fists. "Don't you ever think of anyone else's feeling before you open your big fat mouth? Have you no honor?"

"Listen bacon breath," Ranma yelled angrily, his body shaking. "You have no right to talk to me about honor! You don't see ME twisting an honorable promise to sleep with YOUR fiancé! Eh, P-Chan?"

Ryoga's arrogant look quickly faded, replaced by one of embarrassment. "Well, um, who-who's fault is it anyway that I got cursed, huh?"

"Actually its yours." Ranma stated dryly.

"WHAT?!" Ryoga yelled incredulously. "HOW THE HELL DO YOU FIGURE THAT?"

"WHO'S THE IDIOT WHO FOLLOWED ME TO CHINA IN THE FIRST PLACE?" Ranma demanded angrily, his voice accusing. "If you had just met me where you were suppose to, you never would have missed our duel, and went looking for me! If anyone's to blame, its you and your stupid sense of direction!"

"WELL... Y-YOU SHOULD HAVE WAITED FOR ME TO SHOW UP!"

"DAMMIT, RYOGA! I WAITED AN EXTRA WEEK!"

"Well, it obviously wasn't long enough!" Ryoga declared indignantly.

"Look, Ryoga. I'm sorry I got you cursed." *You don't know how sorry.* "But, blaming ME for everything that happens to YOU is NOT fair!"

"Yeah, whatever." Ryoga replied, no longer interested in the conversation. "We should be concentrating on how to find Akane, not fighting over something as petty as this! Ranma... HOW COULD YOU BE SO SELFISH, AND THINK OF YOURSELF, WHEN AKANE NEEDS US?"

Ranma gave an exasperated sigh, as he grabbed the small canteen, and emptied its contents once again on Ryoga's head.

P-Chan lay on the ground, soaking wet, and extremely angry. Ryoga tried several times to attack Ranma, but couldn't get at him since Ranma was holding him high in the air, by his bandana.

"Since ya won't listen ta me when your human, I guess I'll have ta force ya ta listen ta me when you're a pig."

Ranma finished explaining to Ryoga what had happened, relieved that he had calmed down. He had finally figured out that they wouldn't be able to find Akane any faster if they kept fighting.

Ryoga sat by a small fire, heating up some hot water, listening intently to what Ranma was saying.

"... and then Mr. Tendou, INSISTED that I go and look for her. I've looked all over this stupid town, and can't find her anywhere! This was the last place I could think of ta look."

"How do you know she's in the forest? Have you found any traces of her yet?" Ryoga asked once he had returned to normal.

"Yeah. I found this." Ranma replied, handing the small bag of crushed cookies to Ryoga. "They're the cookies she made for me."

Ryoga looked around at their surroundings, trying to find anything that looked out of place. His eyes grew wide when he noticed the tree he was sitting next to. "Ranma it-it looks like some kind of fight went on here! I mean, there's tons of leaves lying around the trunk of this tree. The only way that could have happened was if someone had been thrown against it!"

"Yeah, I noticed that too." Ranma replied, his voice taking on a hint of worry.

"You-you don't think Akane got kidnapped or hurt or something, do you?"

"I hope not. If anyone hurt Akane there'll be hell to pay."

Akane awoke with a splitting headache. Her head was throbbing, and her heart was pounding in her chest. She had no idea where she was, or how she had gotten there. A sinking feeling settled at the pit of her stomach. Suddenly, a wave of memories came flooding back to her. She remembered running into the forest crying, after Ranma had insulted her cooking. Now, that she thought about it, it seemed like a stupid reason to get angry. It's not like she CARED what Ranma thought of her cooking, she could care less what that stupid pervert thought. A part of her brain argued that point. As much as she hated to admit it, his opinion did mean a lot to her, even though she didn't know why.

Akane tentatively looked around, hoping to find something that looked even remotely familiar.

All around her were beautiful paintings and expensive looking artifacts. Akane took a deep breath, and released it, staring in amazement at all the beautiful surroundings. She concluded that she was in some sort of castle or palace.

Slowly, lifting herself off the bed she had been lying on, Akane began to walk around, examining all of the artifacts and paintings. *You dummy!* she thought to herself disgusted. *You should be looking for a way out! Not admiring the room you're being held captive in!*

Akane began to look for a way out. She sighed in relief when she noticed a small door that lay against the far wall of the room. Running towards it, she grabbed the door knob in her hands, and turned the handle.

And released an angry sob when she realized it was locked.

"Of course! I'm so stupid." Akane berated herself angrily. "Why would they keep a door unlocked when they're holding someone prisoner?!"

Akane sat down on the bed defeated. She couldn't find any windows, or any only other ways out of the room. Akane released a frustrated sigh. After several minutes of uneasy silence, Akane walked angrily to the door, and began to bang and pound on it, demanding to be let out of the room.

Nobody heard, so nobody came, and Akane slumped sadly to the floor. *Well, I guess this means I'll have to wait for someone to let me out.* she thought to herself impatiently, and laying her head in her hands, she waited.

"AKANE?" Ryoga yelled as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Jeez Ryoga, quiet down!" Ranma yelled angrily. "Are you trying to let the whole world know we're here? If Akane DID manage to get herself kidnapped again, I'm sure her kidnappers didn't work alone. They probably told SOMEBODY to stay back, and take care of anyone who came looking for her!"

"For your information, Ran-ma, that's what I'm trying to do. If we can find one of her kidnappers, then they can tell us where Akane is. Besides, how do you know she was kidnapped anyway? She could have gotten lost, and threw her cookies at that tree in frustration." Ryoga added angrily, as he jumped down from a tree branch to stand on firm ground.

"Oh, yeah. THAT makes sense." Ranma replied sarcastically. "Akane wouldn't throw her cookies at a tree for a stupid reason like that! She's gotten lost before, she knows how to handle it."

"Well... it was only a suggestion." Ryoga replied defensively.

"Yeah, a stupid one!"

"Just shut up, Ranma!" Ryoga said angrily. "Why don't you just go back to the hotel, and let me find Akane?"

"You've GOT to be kidding! There's no way, I'm leaving ya here alone! You'd just wander off and get lost, the moment I leave. How the hell do you plan on finding Akane if you're somewhere in Okinawa?"

"RAAAAANNNNNMMMMAAAA....."

Two figures watched from the shadows as the boy in the bandana, launched himself angrily at the boy with the pigtail.

Both of the fighters looked evenly matched, and extremely skilled. The boy with the bandana was launching himself fiercely at his opponent, who continued to dodge his attacks easily.

The pig tailed boy obviously didn't want to fight. He kept repeating the name Akane several times, trying to calm his... friend?... rival? down. It seemed to be working. The bandana boy's face softened at the mention of the girl's name, and he began to listen to what the other boy was saying.

After they had reconciled, the two boys jumped onto the nearest tree branch, and continued their search. No doubt looking for the girl.

"They are extremely skilled." The man's companion stated, watching as the two martial artists vanished amidst the trees.

"Yes, they are. Just like the old ghoul said."

"They must be looking for the girl, we should go tell the others. We can cut them off further in the forest and _convince_ them to give up their search."

His companion looked off in the direction the two men had gone, contemplating the information they had been given. The odds didn't look good.

"Something tells me it won't be that easy."

With that said, the two figures leapt onto a low tree branch, and headed deep into the forest.

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Notes:

Well, that's it for chapter 3!

(Sorry it took so long! I had part of it written, but I forgot to save it and it got erased. So, I got really frustrated, and was too angry to rewrite the entire thing.)

I know I said that Akane would meet Prince Kyone in this chapter but I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to have them meet in chapter 4 instead. Hope you weren't to disappointed.

If you are totally confused... all will be revealed in the chapters to come!

Oh yeah, and thanks go to my friend Lacie, who pestered me EVERYDAY to get this chapter finished.

Questions, comments, or flames are welcome.

PLEASE SEND COMMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hope you liked it.