Disclaimer: The characters Sasami, Ryoko, Noboyuki, Tenchi, Yosho, Ayeka, Kiyone, and Mihoshi are all owned by pioneer. I take no rights to these characters.
Sasami! Where's Dinner?!
By: Sahari
The moon showed brightly that night. The rays of the moon reflected off of the water and onto the trees. Every tree by the Masaki home had its leaves rustling in the wind, the owls hooting a soothing melody. Tenchi was peacefully resting on one of its field's.
"TENCHI!" Something called.
It had woken Tenchi, but he refused to open his eyes, he still needed more sleep.
"TENCHI!!"
It called again. Tenchi groaned. "I knew you were awake." He recognized the voice now, it was Ayeka. He opened an eye just to make sure.
"Hello, Ayeka." He said as he sat up.
"Where have you been? Everyone is worried about you! Don't you...." She was cut off at the moment Ryoko had appeared.
"Well, he's been here with me the entire time, princess. And, I had him right where I wanted him. Before you showed up and ruined it.
"Ryoko, what are you talking about?!" Tenchi said in shock.
"Eeerrrgghh! RYOKO!" Ayeka screamed, "Unhand Lord Tenchi right now!!"
"Whoa, princess. Who do you think you are? No one bosses me around."
Ryoko created two energy balls in her hands. They glowed red in her hands, ready to fly at Ayeka. Ryoko growled at Ayeka. Ayeka now held her flashlight as a weapon, Ayeka snarled back at Ryoko.
"Come on now, can't you two get....." Tenchi complained
"Tenchi! This isn't your problem! I'm going to get rid of her finish her off once and for all!"
"That's enough, Ryoko!" Tenchi yelled.
"Tenchi," Ryoko brought tears to her eyes,"you just can't get upset at me."
"I mean it. I want you and Ayeka to stop fighting now!"
"Well, if she wasn't always..." Ayeka accused.
"Me?! You're the one causing all of the problems here, Ayeka!" Yelled Ryoko.
"Girls! Stop!" Tenchi yelped.
"It's entirely your fault!"
"No, it's always been you! Every time!"
At this Tenchi gave up, and began to walk home. He heard them fighting for quite sometime. Slowly, their voices faded into a soft murmur, from then on, Tenchi had a peaceful walk home.
"No, Ryoko! The power outage was your fault! Am I right, Lord Tenchi?!"
"Tenchi?"
"He left us!" They scream together and ran home, after Tenchi.
Kiyone, Mihoshi, Ryoko and Ayeka had all collected in the living room. Ayeka and Kiyone were watching, oddly enough, a Spanish soap opera. Mihoshi had attempted to watch the soap opera with them, but sadly failed and had fallen asleep Kiyone's shoulder. Kiyone sat disgusted, she knew that there was drool running down her sleeve, but didn't have the heart to wake her partner. Not yet, at least.
Ryoko had been wandering aimlessly. Ryoko heard her stomach rumble. She sniffed into the air, searching for the warm scent of cooking food. "Where's my dinner?!" Ryoko shrieked when she found no food for her to gorge upon. "Settle down, Ryoko. Maybe Sasami isn't finished yet." Kiyone said as she tried to calm Ryoko. "Well, she better hurry it up!" And with that Ryoko stomped into the kitchen.
"Sasami!.... Sasami? Sasami, where are you?! Stop hiding. I'm hungry, here!" Ryoko looked around. She found no cooking food, no food edible, and no Sasami. Ryoko tossed her head around. She only saw some chopped vegetables out, soaking dishes, and a knife lying messily across the kitchen counter. Ryoko growled and stomped back to the table where Ayeka and Kiyone were sitting. "Where's Sasami? She's not in the kitchen and it's way past dinnertime." "Come to think of it, I didn't see her when we were searching for Tenchi." Ayeka observed. "The last time I saw her she took Ryo-ohki and went to get carrots." "Well, i'm going to get her. I'm still hungry!!" Ryoko claimed "Oh, ill go with you." Ayeka offered, immediately. Her sisterly instincts had kicked in.
So, they left for the carrot feilds, calling Sasami. Ayeka went up a row of carrots, and Ryoko went up another. Ryoko saw something glitter in the corner of her eye, but ignored it and continued on. Ayeka stopped to look what was lying in the dirt.
"Sasami! Sasami! ... Ryoko, that's Sasami's basket, right? And.. That's her cap too.."
"Sasami, if your playing a joke I want you to come out here right now! Ryo-ohki!"
They both expected to hear Sasami's giggle, or Ryo-ohki's meow, but the only noise in the air was the rustling of the leaves in the wind. They took a closer look at the clues Sasami had left behind. She had collected some carrots around the area. Her basket was lying on its side. Its contents had spilled in a half circle around the basket. A row of carrots to the right of that her cap lied upside down. It was the cap that Ryoko gave her for her birthday, from that point on Sasami always wore it. Ryoko looked around for any other signs, but unluckily found none.
"Ryoko, it's getting late. We should get the others."
The separated into groups of two, all of them armed with flashlights. The night passed, but there was no sign of Sasami. The next morning, Kiyone contacted Galaxy Police Headquarters and filled out a search warrant. Ayeka cried on Mihoshi's shoulder, because the loss of her sister was almost too much to handle. Ryoko sat by herself, pondering where Sasami and Ryo-ohki might be.
Sasami sat in a prison cell, locked away from any civilization. The ship, which Sasami rode in, had been completely new to her. Everything was different. In Ayeka's ship, there were trees that ship seemed warm and welcoming. This ship was cold, metallic, and extremely gloomy. The cell was completely dark, only the light shown into the room was the dim light from the lamp in the hall. Water drained from the corner nearest to the cage door, which imprisoned Sasami. A pillow and some sheets lied in the corner with the stream of water running down that wall. The pillow and sheets had been molding for quite some time. It left a foul stench through out the room. Sasami had to hold her nose closed for quite sometime, until the thought of the smell had left her mind, she had much worse problems on her mind. She had been weeping for hours, and her eyes were so sore from crying she had to keep them shut. When she gained the strength to open her eyes she saw Ryo-ohki chained to the wall.
"Poor cabbit. I wish I could help you." Sasami stated.
"Miya." Ryo-ohki replied. Ryo-ohki blinked her sad eyes at Sasami. Sasami looked around her cell for anything that might help. Unluckily, all she could find was dust and some leaves that had been brought in my getting stuck to the soles of the several pairs of feet that had walked into this room of seclusion.
"Oh, i'm sorry I got you mixed up in this, Ryo-ohki."
"Meow."
"Don't worry! Tenchi and Ayeka will find us!"
"Do you really think so?" A woman's voice, unknown to Sasami, emitted from outside of Sasami's cell.
It was deep for a woman, but Sasami could tell it was female.
"Who... Who are you?"
Sasami strained her neck to try and see the being she was talking to. The woman saw what she was doing and stepped in front of her cell. She was tall, had long brown hair, and had a slight tan.
"The names Zadina. What about you, kid?"
"S.. Sasami."
"Hm. Sounds nice. What about your pet of there?"
"Oh! She's not mine. She's Ryoko's. Her name is Ryo-ohki."
"Hm. Should have figured."
"... Ma'am?"
"Hm?"
"Why did you take me away?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"How do you know?"
"Just trust me, Sasami. Hey, here's your dinner."
Zadina slid a bowl of vegetables under a gap between the door and the floor. Suddenly, a siren sounded. Zadina sprinted to the ship's control deck. "Oh, no... Not again. Damn GP!"
After that, all Sasami could hear were the faint sounds of firing weapons. The ship rumbled and shook. Glass was shattered. Bits of debris had flown into Sasami's cell. She screamed and scooted to the damp corner as fast as she could. "Ryo-ohki! Ryo-ohki! Are you okay?!" Sasami screeched. She heard a faint meow. Sasami scrambled to the door. "Oh! Ryo-ohki! You're hurt!" A piece of metal had fallen over Ryo-ohki, trapping her there. She also had a glass shard stuck in her right paw, so she couldn't force herself out from underneath the piece of metal. Another blast had hit the ship. The debris flew once again. Sasami's cell door has rattled open. She ran to Ryo-ohki, covering her head with her arms. Bits of glass struck against Sasami's arms. One sharp glass shard punctured Sasami's skin and sank into her arm. She bit her lip in pain, not wanting to attract Zadina's attention. Sasami pulled the glass out of her arm, threw the metal sheet off of Ryo-ohki, and cradled her. She wanted to give Ryo-ohki comfort, so she might ignore the pain in her paw.
Sasami ran to the control deck, looking for a way of escape. She saw Zadina being arrested by two GP officers and four other officers searching the ship.
"There's another one!"
"Get her!"
"What are you all talking about?" Sasami said in confusion.
"Meow?"
An officer grabbed Sasami by her wrists, brought them behind her back, and handcuffed her. Ryo-ohki fell out of her arms. She hopped back a few times. Then, she began to hiss at the officers. Two GP Officer left with Sasami, leaving two left to catch Ryo-ohki. Ryo-ohki hopped up and bit the officer as hard as she could. Then, she did her best to hop away faster than the officer did. Ryo-ohki was fairly easy to catch, due to her right paw was inactive and in extreme pain.
Noboyuki woke up the next morning at 6 a.m. Today, he was the first awake, due to the absence of Sasami. He lazily dragged himself down to the kitchen, started the coffeepot, and walked to the living room, dragging his feet the entire way. By now, Ayeka had clean up the mess left in the kitchen. He turned on the television, sat down beside it, and opened his eyes.
"Today, in the world of crime, the murderer of 5 Galaxy Police officers, persecutor of 23 thefts, has been caught today. Zadina and her crew were apprehended last night, when Zadina had stumbled into a no-flying zone, issued by the Galaxy Police. A look alike to the Jurain princess Sasami is said to be an accomplice of Zadina's."
"Sasami?!" Noboyuki yelled. "Yosho! Ayeka! Kiyone! Ryoko! Wake up! You've got to see this!"
When Yosho, Ayeka, and Kiyone had collected they were showing mug shots of Zadina first, then Sasami, and finally Ryo-ohki.
"Sasami? What is Sasami doing up there?" Ayeka questioned.
"The reporter said that it was a fake, Ayeka." Noboyuki told her.
"That was no fake, that was my sister. Kiyone, can you find out everything you are capable of about this case?" Ayeka said worriedly.
"No problem." Said Kiyone.
Ryoko, by now, had stumbled out of bed and down to the living room. She was trying to find out what the problem was when she heard her name on the news.
"We also have reason to believe that the space pirate Ryoko had something to do with the murders of the 5 GP officers. Ryoko's ship, Ryo-ohki, was found on board Zadina's stolen ship last night. Whether Ryoko was truly part of the crimes is not yet certain."
"Me?!" Ryoko complained, "I knew something was wrong with that cabbit! Why did I ignore it?"
"Oh, please! My problem is far worse than yours!" Ayeka sobbed, "My sister is out there all alone, with no one there to comfort her, or to support her!"
Tenchi had woken up, but didn't draw any attention. He put his arms around Ayeka.
"It's okay, Ayeka. We'll find Sasami." Tenchi said to her quietly.
"Well, of course you will, Tenchi." Yosho said, "You have been trained well, you won't fail."
Washu's door flung open. She casually strolled out, like she always has, and looked at the group.
"I see you have just found out the news." Washu said knowingly.
"You mean you've known and you didn't tell me?!" Ayeka looked at Washu in shock.
"Of course, I knew! I AM the smartest genius in the universe!"
Washu walked in circles around the group.
"I know you all will be wanting to go after her, but in order for this to work, I need Kiyone and Mihoshi here with the ship. So, your going to have to find other means of transportation. I have a small ship you *might* be able to use but it can only fit 3 people, and that's cramped. Since the person I trust most out of you all is Tenchi, I suggest that you let him go."
"Perfect! I'm going, too!" Ayeka demanded.
"Hold on, princess. That's my cabbit out there. I'm going." Ryoko protested.
"Your measly cabbit is out there with a princess of Jurai! MY SISTER!"
"I'm going and there's nothing you can do about it, Ayeka!"
"Why don't you try me! I'm getting on that ship no matter what!"
"Hold on, you two." Washu advised, "You both can go."
"Humph!"
Ayeka went and packed. She kept her luggage to a simple bag, because she knew their quarters were tight. Ryoko's packing was light, too. She brought 4 bottles of Saki. Tenchi was in his room packing, and Yosho walked into Tenchi's room.
"Hey, Grandpa."
"Tenchi, I have something to tell you."
"I know, I know. Be careful, and try to stay away from Ryoko and Ayeka."
"No, not that."
"Well, then what is it, Grandpa?"
"There is a boken that has been in our family for generations. I have kept it for years, I wasn't sure if your father was ready for it."
Tenchi tried to imagine his father training, it just didn't fit.
"Here, Tenchi. I want you to keep this, to give to your son when he's ready."
"Thank you, Grandpa."
Ryoko, Ayeka, and Tenchi all banged on Washu's door when they were ready to go.
"Uh, Ryoko. Don't you think you should..." Tenchi was interrupted once again.
"Ready, already? All right, everyone in the ship." Washu directed.
That turned around a corner, and saw it. What could possibly be the smallest ship in the world. It was the green you see on an American army uniform. Although it was painted in the ugliest color in the world, it was also oddly shaped. It was rather long, but very thin. It was about two people lengths wide.
Tenchi, Ryoko, and Ayeka all looked at the ship oddly. They slowly approached it, not knowing what to think.
"Look, I know it's small, but it will do for now."
"Right, thanks for letting us use it, Washu." Tenchi said politely.
"No problem. Just get Sasami back."
They boarded their cramped quarters, only able to fit one in at a time. The anterior seemed to be a dirt yellow color. They saw a bunk bed and a twin sized bed shoved to the side of the wall. Beside the bunk bed was a cabinet to store randomly needed things. Washu had already stocked this with food. Beside the twin sized bed, there was a small Right past that, was the control deck. The control deck was a color all to it's self. It was the same green as the outside of the ship, which made it seem to stand out.
Tenchi went and sat down in the pilot's seat. He thought back to the summer time, when Kiyone had taught him to fly a ship.
"I call the top bunk!" Ryoko yelped, and immediately jumped to her resting spot.
"Oh, no you don't. I want the top bed!" Ayeka said this as she grabbed Ryoko's ankle, stopping her in mid-flight.
"Now, now. There must be a logical way of solving this dispute." Washu said neutrally. She had boarded upon the ship when everyone was busy.
"I called it first, Washu!" Ryoko said trying to wiggle her ankle out of Ayeka's grip.
"You did not! I had it first! I just wasn't rude enough to shout it aloud!" Ayeka protested.
"Ayeka, you take the bed. Ryoko, you can have to top bunk, and Tenchi will sleep on the bottom bunk."
"Now, I shall permit Ryoko to sleep on the top bunk, but I insist that you let Lord Tenchi sleep on the bed. I will sleep on the bottom bunk."
"All right, Ayeka. If you insist. Is that all right with you, Tenchi?"
"Fine with me!" Tenchi agreed.
Ryoko stuck her tongue out at Ayeka. Ayeka turned her back and began to unpack. She found an empty drawer to put her clothes in, and put what little food she brought with her with the rest of her rations. Ryoko also put her bottles of alcohol with their food. Tenchi yawned, as he shoved his belongings in any available place. There was no time for him to doddle around with neatness. Ayeka sighed, and straighten his things. She couldn't stand to see anything so unorganized. Washu opened a portal into space, and Tenchi fired up the ship.
"All ready, now?" Washu said through her new invention. She called it the Galaxy Walkie-Talkie. The ship was rather old, and didn't have anyways of communication outside of the ship.
"Yep. Next time we see you, we'll have Sasami with us!"
And with that they flew through the portal, out into space, and began their voyage.
Sasami sat in the corner of a new jail cell, crying again. She now had a more comfortable living style, but it was still jail. It had a simple shelf, on the wall to the left of the entrance of the cell, where the other inmates kept what little belongings they were allowed to keep. Along the wall right in front of the entrance lied a cozy bed in the corner. In the most hidden corner, was a toilet. "Everyone needs at least some privacy", was the motto to the action of installing a toilet in every cell.
Sasami cried into her hands. Rubbed her arm. It was recently bandaged where the glass had punctured her. The bandage was annoyingly itchy, and the antiseptic spray stung her arm, so the annoyance from that had still remained in her arm. Sasami wiped her eyes free of tears and sighed.
"Ayeka," She said to herself. "Please come get me."
Just then, an alarm began to sound. A voice came from above her saying repeatedly, "Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert." A delayed rumble came to her cell; everything was shaken. The bed shifted out of place, and the toilet seat jumped up and down.
Sasami stood up and ran to the entrance of her "cage". Yet again another rumble came to her corridors. This time the toilet seat flew off it's hinges, and hit the shelf. The shelf fell to the ground; it crashed and broke apart. Splinters flew everywhere. This startled Sasami, and she shrieked. She began to bang on the door that kept her locked in. The alarm voice spoke up again. "Start evacuation sequence." It said this about five times before falling silent once again. Sasami beat the door as hard as she could, hoping to be heard. She heard the inmates around her following her footsteps. Their shrill cries gave Sasami chills. She heard the beating of footsteps against the ground. One by one, the cells to her left were opened. Sasami sighed and calmed down. A guard opened her cell, immediately handcuffed her, and began to run her down the hall to a small escape pod.
Sasami saw plenty of the guards and prisoners sprint ahead of her. She saw the pod she was headed for be filled by another guard and prisoner. She couldn't worry about that, yet. She was having too many problems with the guard she was accompanied by. She did her best to ignore the random insults thrown at her. He would yell at her to run faster, but she was doing her best. Her legs couldn't carry her much faster.
They ran from pod to pod looking for an empty one. All of the had either left or were occupied. Sasami heard run shots fired from far away, slowly they got closer. A pod door violently flung open. Out came Zadina, her handcuffs still binding her hands together. "Jump in, Kid!" She yelled at Sasami. Sasami went to the pod, but to her surprise she found the guard jump in before her, and take off in the pod.
"Oh, no. What are we gonna do?" Sasami said as she trembled.
Sasami buried her face into Zadina's stomach, and let out a few tears. Zadina looked up and saw a group of men approaching them, each one armed with a gun.
"Okay, when I saw go, we're going to run. Do you understand?"
"Mmhhmm. I understand."
"Okay. Ready? GO!"
Sasami broke into a wild sprint, and Zadina ran along side of her. The guns fired from behind them. They heard the rattle of the guns, the rattle that would be their deaths. Zadina fell to the ground, as she was hit in the back. Sasami turned, and rushed to her side. Sasami shook Zadina.
"Wake up, Zadina. Wake up. We need to go! They're going to get us!"
"Run... Now.."
Sasami stood, and began to sprint again. She was so shaken she couldn't cry. She was so over-whelmed with fear, all she could do was run.
Zadina watched Sasami run. "Why did I bring her into this?" She thought to herself. It was Zadina's idea, to risk her life for the one she had kidnapped. Zadina had nothing to live for after this, so she might as well try to save Sasami's life.
The guns continued to fire behind her. She felt a bullet pierce into her leg, she fell to the ground. Sasami rolled over, so she wasn't lying on her injured arm. She scream in pain. In the middle of her howl, another bullet hit her arm. Sasami's voice failed her now. She closed her eyes, and cringed. She gripped her injured arm, as she heard the men's voices.
"This one's dead." One reported.
"The young one is still alive. We'll bring her to the boss."
"Can't we just kill her? It'll save us our rations."
"I said we're bringing her to Yamobi, and that's what we're going to do! Now, bring her onto the ship."
She felt a heavily breathing man pick her up. He smelled of fish and gin. In the man's arms, she officially passed out.
"RYOKO!" Ayeka screeched, "Give me back my bag!"
"Now, now, now, Princess. I want to see what little goodies you brought along for us!"
"Stop it, Girls!"
"Aw! And what is this I see!"
"Ryoko! Don't you dare!"
"It's a night light! Now, Ayeka, what are you packing a night light for?"
"For.. For my reading. Now, give me back my bag!"
"Well, that's funny, I don't see any books in here."
Ayeka reached for her bag. But, her face was rudely greeted by Ryoko's hand. Ayeka waved her arms around trying to grip the bag.
"Wait a minute, I'm not done yet."
Ryoko grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on. Luckily for her, it was Ayeka's stuffed teddy bear, Mr. Snuggles.
"Ayyeeekkaa," Ryoko taunted, "Look who I have!"
"Ryoko! You give Mr. Snuggles back right this instant!"
"Mr. Snuggles?!"
Ryoko busted out laughing, she fell over, and began to roll on the ground.
"Mr.. Mr.... SNUGGLES!"
Ayeka growled, grabbed her teddy bear and her bag. She tossed the remainder of her things onto her bed. She sat down on it and sighed.
"One day, Ryoko. I will get back at you." She whispered to herself. Of course, Ryoko couldn't hear it over her laughing.
"Ayeka! Ryoko! You should come see this."
Ayeka immediately rushed to Tenchi's side. Ryoko lazily picked herself off of the ground, brushed the dust off of her clothes, and went to go see. Ryoko shoved her way in and looked out into space. She saw a Galaxy Police Station completely blown to bits. What was left of it had turned completely ash black. The shell had a hole ever two feet, large massive holes showed where they had used major weapons. The guards and prisoners unlucky enough to not get out of the Station in time, were most obviously killed. But, their bodies floated around the ship, hanging in a very morbid way. This sight made a chill run down Ayeka's back.
"Oh, no.."
"What has happened here?"
"Tenchi, did you see any other ships earlier?"
"Well, yeah. About... two. But that was it."
"Tenchi, I believe that Sasami is still alive. I can just feel it. Do you think that she would have boarded one of those ships?"
"Hold on a second, Ayeka." Ryoko said after listening to the two talk for a while.
"What is it?"
"I think I see something. Tenchi, turn to the left."
Tenchi did as he was commanded to, Ryoko saw something that made her jump, and made Ayeka gasp.
"Ships!" Ayeka yelled out in hope.
"Not only ships. Those are cabbits." Ryoko muttered.
Sasami woke up on the floor. She opened her eyes, but immediately closed them after seeing several pairs of feet walk past her. She could still feel the bullets in her arm and her leg. She held her arm, and held back her tears. Slowly, the universe was making her tougher.
"Come on now, stand up. We know your awake." A woman's voice said to her.
"I can't." Sasami replied, "It hurts."
"Now, now, a princess of Jurai not strong enough to pick herself up? Come now, stand up."
Sasami let her arm go, and stood up weakly. She opened her eyes and looked upon five people. Four of them were male, and one was female. She grabbed her arm again.
The woman who had spoken to her was very pale. She had long dark black hair, which drifted over her uniform. It was unlike any other Sasami had seen before. It was black, trimmed in navy, with a single gold patch on her left coat pocket. To men rushed from her side, to Sasami's. Both grabbed one of her arms, and carried her to the woman. Sasami howled in pain as they did this. Her arm had been injured so many times that it had gone from a deep, but thin cut. To almost, a hole in her arm.
"Settle yourself, child." The woman smiled after saying this. She meant her smile to be comforting, but her smile was so wicked and twisted, it only frightening Sasami.
"Yamobi, what do you want us to do with her?"
"Bring her to the on-board doctor, get the bullets out of her arm and leg. Tell him to give her a painkiller. Then, give her a room and a decent meal. Be sure to see that she doesn't leave."
"Yes, ma'am." The men replied and escorted Sasami down a hall.
The hall seemed heavenly. It was an ivory colored marble, on every side, including the ceiling and floor. Lamps lit up the hallway, with a nice golden glow. Sasami stopped to look at a lamp. Luckily, one of the men had 3 children of his own, so he stood by her while she studied it. The handle, which connected it to the marble wall, was made of brass. Glass with intricate designs, covered the light bulb. The design on the glass was a flower bush. Sasami walked through the hall, with her hand still over her arm, admiring the hall. Finally, the reached the Doctor's office.
"She had bullets in her leg and in her arm. The Mistress wants you to give her a painkiller." And with that, the two men sat down on two of the chairs, which were pushed away in the corner.
"Come, darling. Sit on the chair."
There was a large examining chair that was placed right in the middle of the office. Sasami hopped up onto the chair with the assistance of the doctor. She looked around the office. It was packed. On one side of the room there was a counter, with cabinets above it. One of the cabinets was open; it was full of medicines. All along the counter lied charts of all sorts. A desk sat in the corner of the room, beside the chairs which the men sat in. The desk had scattered papers covering it. Sasami felt a poke right below her left shoulder. The doctor had given her a shot.
"Okay, now, lie back. This shot will make you a little sleepy."
"Okay."
Sasami did as she was told and stared at the ceiling. By the time the doctor had started to remove the bandage from her arm, she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. Finally, she gave up and began to fall asleep. By the time the bandage was totally removed, Sasami was in a deep sleep.
"Uh, oh. Almost out of gas." Tenchi muttered.
Ayeka was standing next to Tenchi, holding a cup of coffee for him. Ryoko had fallen asleep long ago; Tenchi's words were the only thing besides Ryoko's snoring that had interrupted the silence.
"There's a plant off the right. We can land there, and rest here for the night."
"Good idea, Ayeka."
"I will be off to be now, then. Good night, Lord Tenchi."
"Good night, Ayeka."
She gave Tenchi his cup of coffee, and with that; Ayeka set off for bed. Ayeka pulled the plaid sheet down. The neatly folded it over. Ayeka brushed her teeth, and spat into a cup. There was no bathroom, which became to be a problem when nature had called. Ayeka climbed into her bed, and slowly fell to sleep, thinking of her sister. The last thing she heard before she had fallen into a dream was the soft pitter-patter of Tenchi's feet. After that, Ayeka dozed off into a dream.
Ayeka floated though the air, and fell in a field. The field was covered with
flowers. It was all sorts of colors. Reds, whites, pinks, purples, yellows, and greens. Some what like her gardens in Jurai. It was the most beautiful thing Ayeka saw. There, just a few meters away from her, Sasami was playing in the field. She was chasing Ryo-ohki, and making small flower crowns to fit on her head.
"Sasami!" Ayeka called, "Sasami!"
"Ayeka!" Sasami yelled back, and began to run to her
Ayeka sprinted through the flowers to catch her sister. But, as she ran closer, Sasami seemed to get farther away. The sky began to turn a deep gray, full of swirling clouds, and the thundered rolled. Sasami fell to the ground, trying to hide. Ayeka ran to her, and held Sasami in her arms.
"It's okay, Sasami." Ayeka said trying to comfort the child. "Everything will be fine."
"I lost Ryo-ohki." Sasami sputtered through her tears.
"That's okay, Sasami. We will find her tomorrow."
"Okay, Ayeka." Sasami said brushing away her tears.
A black mist formed around the clouds. Ayeka looked up at it, and it seemed to grin back at her. Ayeka looked down at Sasami, frightened. The mist floated down to Ayeka and Sasami, still grinning. The mist formed arms, and reached out for Sasami. Ayeka gripped onto Sasami tighter. The arms grabbed Sasami from Ayeka, violently. Sasami drifted into the clouds, like a stolen doll, that Ayeka was never to see again. Ayeka fell to the ground crying, and yelling out Sasami's name.
"No! Sasami! No!"
"Ayeka! Ayeka!"
Ayeka woke from her dream and saw Tenchi sitting by her bed. She could still hear Ryoko's snoring, but the light was pouring into the ship.
"Oh, Tenchi. It was awful. I was so scared."
"It's okay, Ayeka. It was just a dream."
Sasami had awoke not too long after the operation, she had slept enough for the day. She could vaguely see the objects in the room. She blinked to get the blur away from her vision. Slowly, the items in the room began to piece together. The room was rather large, it was obviously meant for more than one person. Yet, there was only one bed, the bed that Sasami was lying in. Sasami down at her sheets. There was a white comforter, and a red sheet underneath it. The pillows behind her were also red and white but her an assortment of various sizes and shapes. Sasami was on a canopy bed. She could tell because a large sheer fabric floated over her bed.
Sasami's arm was bandaged more professionally than before. Sasami pulled back the sheets, and saw that her leg was bandaged also. Sasami began to get out bed, when a figure walked into the room. Sasami watched it carefully. The figure approached the bed, and Sasami slid to the opposite side of the bed. The figure hung something from the bed, and slowly opened the fabric, which had provided Sasami comfort, acting as a wall. Yamobi stood before her. Yamobi, smiled sinisterly at Sasami.
"Come now, I brought you a dress, i'm sure you will like it." Yamobi said kindly, "Come, look at it."
Sasami crawled off the bed and stood a foot or two away from Yamobi. Yamobi gave Sasami the dress and began to walk away.
"Remember, dinner will be at seven. After dinner, you and I will search for new a few dresses. I hope you like your room."
Sasami looked at the dress. It was white, and covered with lace. The collar, sleeves, and bottom of the dress were all trimmed with a blue that matched her hair. Below the dress were some white socks, with the same blue trimming and a pair of fancy white shoes. Sasami set the dress down on the bed, and began to search around her room.
She had thirty minutes until she had to be at dinner. Beside the bed, was a small table. On the table was a paper bag. Sasami walked to the table and peeked inside of the bag. It contained two pill bottles. Sasami pulled the pill bottles out of the bag and read their labels. In the pill bottles, were pain killers for her arm and leg. Sasami placed the bottles back into the bag and began to search around the rest of the room. She saw a large shelf on one of the walls. In it were books by the hundreds. Sasami ran her finger along the books' sides. She skimmed over the titles. She saw some of her favorite books among the others. A corner from the room was built into a new room. This connecting room was the bathroom. The bathroom was one of the few rooms not made of marble. Instead, the floor was tile and only the walls were marble. A big change to Sasami write now. Sasami took her dress into the bathroom and changed into it. The dress scratched at her neck. But, beside that the dress was rather comfortable. Sasami changed her socks and shoes, and looked at herself in the mirror. She decided that she liked the dress and smiled.
Sasami galloped back outside into the room. She had found a door she hadn't noticed before. She opened it up and looked inside. It was a closet. It was completely empty beside the mirror which stood in front of her. Sasami twirled, and trotted outside to go to dinner.
"Ryoko." Tenchi muttered to her, while shaking her shoulder. "Ryoko, wake up."
"Huh? What?" Ryoko stammered.
"Morning, Ryoko."
Ryoko rubbed her eyes and sat up. She looked at Tenchi, and smiled. To her surprise, Tenchi smiled back. Tenchi hopped down from the ladder connecting to the upper bunk. Ryoko looked around the ship. Ayeka was awake already, and had been pre-paring a breakfast from the rations they had on board.
"It's about time." Ayeka muttered under her breath as Ryoko stumbled down from her bed.
"Well, now. I suppose it's time for us to plan our day, isn't it?" Ayeka suggested.
"Good idea, Ayeka. Okay, Ryoko, where's the money."
Ayeka and Ryoko looked at Tenchi in confusion.
"What are you talking about? I don't have the money. I thought Ayeka brought it."
"Well, I assumed that Lord Tenchi, being the man in this voyage, would handle the money."
"Great, we've got nothing." Tenchi sighed.
Ryoko laughed. Ayeka was frustrated by the way Ryoko just blew everything off.
"Now, what's so funny?! This is not a time to be laughing, Ryoko!"
"It's just that after all of the times we have forgotten the money for gas, you'd think we would remember by now."
"Ryoko..." Ayeka and Tenchi muttered together.
Sasami skipped down the hall, humming. Then, she realized she didn't have a clue where the dinner table was. So, she put her nose to work, and sniffed around for the welcoming smell of food. This only lead her to a man that smelled heavily of potatoes. He guided her to the kitchen. Yamobi was sitting in the kitchen, checking over the cooks and the dishes they were preparing.
"Ah, there you are." Yamobi said when Sasami entered the room. "You may choose any dish you want."
"Hm." Sasami continued to hum as she chose. "That one!"
The cook handed her a dish of Cashew Chicken. Yamobi lead her to the dinner table. It was massive. Sasami guessed it was meant to sit 500 people, yet there were only two chairs.
"Is anyone else joining us?" Sasami asked.
"Well, of course. I brought you some playmates."
Three cooks came out with large platters completely covered in carrots. Sasami stared at the platters, thinking of Ryo-ohki. Sasami imagined Ryo-ohki hopping up onto the table and meowing at her. Ryo-ohki nuzzled at
her hand, and Sasami could feel wet nose.
"Meow!" Ryo-ohki said loudly.
"Ryo-ohki? It is you!"
Sasami scooped the cabbit into her arms, and hugged her tightly. Ryo-ohki purred lovingly. Sasami looked over Ryo-ohki's head and saw cabbits surrounding the platters. Sasami's eyes lit up. Three very plump cabbits hopped up to Sasami. They all jumped into her arms, and let Ryo-ohki go eat. Sasami hugged the cabbits happily. She set the cabbit down on the table, beside her plate, and shared her meal with any cabbit who decided to hop over to her.
"Tenchi, do you know where you landed?" Ryoko said calmly as she got out of the ship.
"Well, of course. In a field."
"What type of field?"
"Are there certain types of feilds now?"
"Tenchi, just come look at this."
As Tenchi stepped off of the ship, he saw the ship was surrounded by cows, and their droppings.
"Oh, Tenchi. Might there be a little bit of gas left that might get us closer to a town?" Ayeka asked as she peeked over his shoulder.
"There might be."
Ayeka moved to a bed, letting Tenchi by. She ended up hopping onto Ryoko's bed. Ryoko walked back onto the ship, disgusted, and sat on Ayeka's bed. As they took off, Ayeka felt a little lump on Ryoko's bed. Ayeka pulled back the sheets and found a small stuffed cow. Ayeka smiled devilishly. Finally, she was able to gain revenge on Ryoko.
"Oh, Ryoko!" She called.
"What?"
"I thought you didn't like cows."
Ryoko gasped. Her head shot out at Ayeka.
"Ayeka, if you do anything to Bessy you'll wish you never woke up this morning!!"
Ayeka smiled evilly, and held back a laugh. Ryoko lunged for the cow. Ayeka scrambled down the ladder, jumped onto her bed, and laughed her heart out.
"AYEKA!"
Tenchi was able to get them about quarter of a mile from a small town. Ryoko and Ayeka walked at other sides of the road. Tenchi walked with Ryoko, leaving Ayeka lonely on the other side of the road. They walked down to town, all of them were silent. It took them about 20 minutes to get into town, and find a gas station. The gas station had a porch connected to the entrance. On the porch was an old man, sleeping in his rocking chair. Tenchi peeked inside, but no one was there.
"Excuse me, Sir?" Ayeka said.
The old man woke up, confused.
"What? Who? Who's there?"
The old man picked up his bifocals and looked upon Ayeka and Ryoko.
"Weeeell, it looks like we have some lovely looking ladies here."
"Oh, please." Ryoko said rolling her eyes.
"Sir? Might there be someway that we could make an agreement. You see, our ship is out of gas, and we don't have any money." Ayeka pleaded.
"Well, I suppose I could do a little something for you..."
"Great! Thanks" Ryoko interrupted. "But, do you have anything we could transport the gas in?"
"Well, I gots that can over there."
An aluminum can stood around some weeds. It was about up to Ryoko's waist. Ryoko hastily filled the can, and wheeled it away before the man could object. Tenchi ran after her, leaving poor Ayeka with the old man.
"Now, about our deal.."
The old man goosed Ayeka and gave her a toothless grin as Ayeka spun around in shock.
"Now, that is no way to treat a Jurain Princess!"
"Oh! She's a feisty one!"
Angered, Ayeka ran back to the ship trying to catch up with Tenchi.
Sasami lied in bed, staring at the several dresses Yamobi had bought for her. She sat up and looked around her room. Her entire room was like a mine field of cabbits. Ryo-ohki hopped into her lap, and curled up. Sasami petted the cabbit and sighed. She missed everyone back home. She missed Washu and Kiyone. She even missed Ryoko. But most of all, she missed Ayeka. Sasami's mind had drifted back to how she was going to get home. She looked at Ryo-ohki.
"Ryo-ohki?" Sasami whispered. "Are you still awake."
A small meow came from Ryo-ohki.
"Tomorrow, Ryo-ohki. We're going to get out of here, and go home.
Yamobi wandered around a game room laughing to herself. She was playing pool with herself. One of her employees came into the room, balancing a tray on his hand. On the tray, was a glass, and a bottle of Saki.
"Ah. Thank you."
The employee nodded his head, and headed for the door.
"No, no. Please stay."
"Yes, ma'am."
The employee sat down, and Yamobi continued playing pool. She laughed again. The employee watched her wearily. Just like the rest of Yamobi's staff, he was deathly afraid of her.
"M... Ma'am? Why are you laughing?"
Yamobi shot a glance at him. This made the employee sink into his chair. Yamobi smiled, and laughed sinisterly once again.
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Yes ma'am."
"I'll make you a promise. If you hold this secret, you'll become the second in command."
The employee sat up in his chair, immediately interested.
"Now, the only reason I need that Sasami girl around for two reasons. I need to attract her sister, Ayeka."
"But, why?"
"With Ayeka dead, who would be the next to the thrown? Sasami, of course. Yosho would never go back. So, I need Sasami. After Sasami takes the thrown, she will obey me, and I will rule all of Jurai!"
Yamobi laughed in her brilliance and hopped onto the pool table.
"Aren't I brilliant?"
"You truly are ma'am."
"Hm. Call me Yamobi."
Sasami woke up with a paw patting her forehead. A curious cabbit had hopped onto her bed, and was now playing with her face. She felt her cheeks be stretched apart. She picked up the cabbit and blinked at it.
"Well, hello there."
"Miya!"
Sasami giggled as she heard all of the energy-full cabbits playing in the room. She stepped off her bed, and saw a man sitting in the corner of the room.
"Yamobi wants to see you. Dress nicely."
And with that he left the room.
"Okay, we're getting out of here. Cabbits, follow me. When you hear me, Ryo-ohki, turn into a ship. Okay? Let's go."
Sasami, followed by 31 cabbits, finally stopped when she had felt like she had ran for a mile and a half.
"NOW, RYO-OHKI!" She yelled as loud as she could.
A loud cracking noise echoed through the ship. The floor began to crack as it neared her. Sasami and the cabbits began to run. Sasami and all of the cabbits appeared in Ryo-ohki formed as a ship. The cabbits ran around frantically until Sasami calmed them. Sasami looked out of one of the screens, looking for which way they were going to head to. Sasami saw a ship. The ship was oddly shaped. It was long, and not that wide. And to make it worse, it was an awful green color. Sasami looked closer to the ship, though the window on the ship. Sasami gasped.
"Tenchi!" She yelled.
"Ryo-ohki?" Tenchi muttered as he saw the ship out in the distance.
Ryoko leaped from her bed and to Tenchi's side.
"That IS Ryo-ohki!"
"But, what's that behind them?" Ayeka pointed out.
"That's another ship."
"What's that on its side?"
"I think that is a hole."
"It doesn't look that big."
The ship it's self was massive. It turned to face Ryo-ohki and Washu's ship. Suddenly, a large glowing net was caste over both ships. The ships clashed together violently. The sharp edges of Ryo-ohki dug into Washu's ship. Tenchi, Ayeka, and Ryoko were all thrust to one side of the ship. Ayeka was knocked out by the blow to her head. She slowly watched the image of Tenchi fade from her sight.
When Ayeka woke, she was in a room with Sasami, Tenchi, and Ryoko.
"Sasami!" She instantly lunged for her sister.
"Ayeka!" Sasami wrapped her arms around Ayeka.
"Such a happy moment." Said a voice Sasami knew all too well.
Yamobi stood in the doorway. She smiled at them the same sinisterly way she always did. She slowly entered the room, followed by her "right-hand-man". Yamobi help the gun in her hand tightly.
"Well, it seems i'm killing two birds with one stone. Or shall I say four."
"Leave them out of this!" Sasami scream and stood up defensively.
"Oh, I have had just about enough of you."
Yamobi snapped her fingers, and the man grabbed Sasami by the arms and pulled her away from Ayeka.
"Well, well, Ayeka. I seem to have somewhat of a death sentence for you."
Yamobi snapped her fingers once again, and the man let go of Sasami's arms to toss a gun to Yamobi. She took one look at Ayeka's terrified face, looked away, and shot. Sasami threw her body out in front of Ayeka. A high pitched shriek sounded. Sasami fell to the ground and looked up at her sister. Blood seeped from Sasami's chest. Ayeka looked down at her sister, and frantically picked her up, and ran while Yamobi's back was turned. Ryoko and Tenchi followed close behind her. Ryoko ran in front of Ayeka.
"This way!" She yelled as they heard footsteps of their two predators pound behind them.
Gunshots fired as the turned the corner. A loud blast sounded before them. Tenchi and Ayeka stopped in their tracks. Then, the rattling of Yamobi's gun made them run again.
"MEEOOW!"
Ayeka and Tenchi looked side to side as they ran, and were instantly transported onto Ryo-ohki. Ayeka lied Sasami on the ground. Both of them were now stained with Sasami's blood. Ryoko rushed to Ayeka's side, as Tenchi ripped off one of his sleeves to cover Sasami's wound. Sasami took one last look at her sister, Ryoko, and Tenchi, before redness had filled her eyes, and Sasami could see no more. Tenchi felt Sasami's wrist, checking for a pulse. He lowered his head, and Sasami's wrist onto the ground. Ayeka burst into tears. She cried on Ryoko's shoulder, and Ryoko tried to console her.
Two weeks had passed since Sasami's death, but things in the house weren't any better. Ayeka still wept in her room privately, even though she denied it. Everyone in the house had cried once or twice, but none could compare to the hurt Ayeka felt. Sasami's grave was now littered with any flower, or any remembrance of Sasami.
Sasami's funeral had the most affect on Washu, and Kiyone. Ayeka was the last to speak of her sister's death.
"Sasami was the most caring, and giving person in the universe. I regret that I did not just give a little bit more to her. Spend a few more days with her. I regret that I didn't watch her more closely." A tear ran down Ayeka's cheek. "I wish that I wasn't the one still here, I wish that Sasami would be in my place." Ayeka swept a hand across her face, wiping away her tears. "But, the thing I wish most is, such a wonderful person, didn't have to struggle through all of that, just to be let down, by one single bullet.."
Sasami! Where's Dinner?!
By: Sahari
The moon showed brightly that night. The rays of the moon reflected off of the water and onto the trees. Every tree by the Masaki home had its leaves rustling in the wind, the owls hooting a soothing melody. Tenchi was peacefully resting on one of its field's.
"TENCHI!" Something called.
It had woken Tenchi, but he refused to open his eyes, he still needed more sleep.
"TENCHI!!"
It called again. Tenchi groaned. "I knew you were awake." He recognized the voice now, it was Ayeka. He opened an eye just to make sure.
"Hello, Ayeka." He said as he sat up.
"Where have you been? Everyone is worried about you! Don't you...." She was cut off at the moment Ryoko had appeared.
"Well, he's been here with me the entire time, princess. And, I had him right where I wanted him. Before you showed up and ruined it.
"Ryoko, what are you talking about?!" Tenchi said in shock.
"Eeerrrgghh! RYOKO!" Ayeka screamed, "Unhand Lord Tenchi right now!!"
"Whoa, princess. Who do you think you are? No one bosses me around."
Ryoko created two energy balls in her hands. They glowed red in her hands, ready to fly at Ayeka. Ryoko growled at Ayeka. Ayeka now held her flashlight as a weapon, Ayeka snarled back at Ryoko.
"Come on now, can't you two get....." Tenchi complained
"Tenchi! This isn't your problem! I'm going to get rid of her finish her off once and for all!"
"That's enough, Ryoko!" Tenchi yelled.
"Tenchi," Ryoko brought tears to her eyes,"you just can't get upset at me."
"I mean it. I want you and Ayeka to stop fighting now!"
"Well, if she wasn't always..." Ayeka accused.
"Me?! You're the one causing all of the problems here, Ayeka!" Yelled Ryoko.
"Girls! Stop!" Tenchi yelped.
"It's entirely your fault!"
"No, it's always been you! Every time!"
At this Tenchi gave up, and began to walk home. He heard them fighting for quite sometime. Slowly, their voices faded into a soft murmur, from then on, Tenchi had a peaceful walk home.
"No, Ryoko! The power outage was your fault! Am I right, Lord Tenchi?!"
"Tenchi?"
"He left us!" They scream together and ran home, after Tenchi.
Kiyone, Mihoshi, Ryoko and Ayeka had all collected in the living room. Ayeka and Kiyone were watching, oddly enough, a Spanish soap opera. Mihoshi had attempted to watch the soap opera with them, but sadly failed and had fallen asleep Kiyone's shoulder. Kiyone sat disgusted, she knew that there was drool running down her sleeve, but didn't have the heart to wake her partner. Not yet, at least.
Ryoko had been wandering aimlessly. Ryoko heard her stomach rumble. She sniffed into the air, searching for the warm scent of cooking food. "Where's my dinner?!" Ryoko shrieked when she found no food for her to gorge upon. "Settle down, Ryoko. Maybe Sasami isn't finished yet." Kiyone said as she tried to calm Ryoko. "Well, she better hurry it up!" And with that Ryoko stomped into the kitchen.
"Sasami!.... Sasami? Sasami, where are you?! Stop hiding. I'm hungry, here!" Ryoko looked around. She found no cooking food, no food edible, and no Sasami. Ryoko tossed her head around. She only saw some chopped vegetables out, soaking dishes, and a knife lying messily across the kitchen counter. Ryoko growled and stomped back to the table where Ayeka and Kiyone were sitting. "Where's Sasami? She's not in the kitchen and it's way past dinnertime." "Come to think of it, I didn't see her when we were searching for Tenchi." Ayeka observed. "The last time I saw her she took Ryo-ohki and went to get carrots." "Well, i'm going to get her. I'm still hungry!!" Ryoko claimed "Oh, ill go with you." Ayeka offered, immediately. Her sisterly instincts had kicked in.
So, they left for the carrot feilds, calling Sasami. Ayeka went up a row of carrots, and Ryoko went up another. Ryoko saw something glitter in the corner of her eye, but ignored it and continued on. Ayeka stopped to look what was lying in the dirt.
"Sasami! Sasami! ... Ryoko, that's Sasami's basket, right? And.. That's her cap too.."
"Sasami, if your playing a joke I want you to come out here right now! Ryo-ohki!"
They both expected to hear Sasami's giggle, or Ryo-ohki's meow, but the only noise in the air was the rustling of the leaves in the wind. They took a closer look at the clues Sasami had left behind. She had collected some carrots around the area. Her basket was lying on its side. Its contents had spilled in a half circle around the basket. A row of carrots to the right of that her cap lied upside down. It was the cap that Ryoko gave her for her birthday, from that point on Sasami always wore it. Ryoko looked around for any other signs, but unluckily found none.
"Ryoko, it's getting late. We should get the others."
The separated into groups of two, all of them armed with flashlights. The night passed, but there was no sign of Sasami. The next morning, Kiyone contacted Galaxy Police Headquarters and filled out a search warrant. Ayeka cried on Mihoshi's shoulder, because the loss of her sister was almost too much to handle. Ryoko sat by herself, pondering where Sasami and Ryo-ohki might be.
Sasami sat in a prison cell, locked away from any civilization. The ship, which Sasami rode in, had been completely new to her. Everything was different. In Ayeka's ship, there were trees that ship seemed warm and welcoming. This ship was cold, metallic, and extremely gloomy. The cell was completely dark, only the light shown into the room was the dim light from the lamp in the hall. Water drained from the corner nearest to the cage door, which imprisoned Sasami. A pillow and some sheets lied in the corner with the stream of water running down that wall. The pillow and sheets had been molding for quite some time. It left a foul stench through out the room. Sasami had to hold her nose closed for quite sometime, until the thought of the smell had left her mind, she had much worse problems on her mind. She had been weeping for hours, and her eyes were so sore from crying she had to keep them shut. When she gained the strength to open her eyes she saw Ryo-ohki chained to the wall.
"Poor cabbit. I wish I could help you." Sasami stated.
"Miya." Ryo-ohki replied. Ryo-ohki blinked her sad eyes at Sasami. Sasami looked around her cell for anything that might help. Unluckily, all she could find was dust and some leaves that had been brought in my getting stuck to the soles of the several pairs of feet that had walked into this room of seclusion.
"Oh, i'm sorry I got you mixed up in this, Ryo-ohki."
"Meow."
"Don't worry! Tenchi and Ayeka will find us!"
"Do you really think so?" A woman's voice, unknown to Sasami, emitted from outside of Sasami's cell.
It was deep for a woman, but Sasami could tell it was female.
"Who... Who are you?"
Sasami strained her neck to try and see the being she was talking to. The woman saw what she was doing and stepped in front of her cell. She was tall, had long brown hair, and had a slight tan.
"The names Zadina. What about you, kid?"
"S.. Sasami."
"Hm. Sounds nice. What about your pet of there?"
"Oh! She's not mine. She's Ryoko's. Her name is Ryo-ohki."
"Hm. Should have figured."
"... Ma'am?"
"Hm?"
"Why did you take me away?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"How do you know?"
"Just trust me, Sasami. Hey, here's your dinner."
Zadina slid a bowl of vegetables under a gap between the door and the floor. Suddenly, a siren sounded. Zadina sprinted to the ship's control deck. "Oh, no... Not again. Damn GP!"
After that, all Sasami could hear were the faint sounds of firing weapons. The ship rumbled and shook. Glass was shattered. Bits of debris had flown into Sasami's cell. She screamed and scooted to the damp corner as fast as she could. "Ryo-ohki! Ryo-ohki! Are you okay?!" Sasami screeched. She heard a faint meow. Sasami scrambled to the door. "Oh! Ryo-ohki! You're hurt!" A piece of metal had fallen over Ryo-ohki, trapping her there. She also had a glass shard stuck in her right paw, so she couldn't force herself out from underneath the piece of metal. Another blast had hit the ship. The debris flew once again. Sasami's cell door has rattled open. She ran to Ryo-ohki, covering her head with her arms. Bits of glass struck against Sasami's arms. One sharp glass shard punctured Sasami's skin and sank into her arm. She bit her lip in pain, not wanting to attract Zadina's attention. Sasami pulled the glass out of her arm, threw the metal sheet off of Ryo-ohki, and cradled her. She wanted to give Ryo-ohki comfort, so she might ignore the pain in her paw.
Sasami ran to the control deck, looking for a way of escape. She saw Zadina being arrested by two GP officers and four other officers searching the ship.
"There's another one!"
"Get her!"
"What are you all talking about?" Sasami said in confusion.
"Meow?"
An officer grabbed Sasami by her wrists, brought them behind her back, and handcuffed her. Ryo-ohki fell out of her arms. She hopped back a few times. Then, she began to hiss at the officers. Two GP Officer left with Sasami, leaving two left to catch Ryo-ohki. Ryo-ohki hopped up and bit the officer as hard as she could. Then, she did her best to hop away faster than the officer did. Ryo-ohki was fairly easy to catch, due to her right paw was inactive and in extreme pain.
Noboyuki woke up the next morning at 6 a.m. Today, he was the first awake, due to the absence of Sasami. He lazily dragged himself down to the kitchen, started the coffeepot, and walked to the living room, dragging his feet the entire way. By now, Ayeka had clean up the mess left in the kitchen. He turned on the television, sat down beside it, and opened his eyes.
"Today, in the world of crime, the murderer of 5 Galaxy Police officers, persecutor of 23 thefts, has been caught today. Zadina and her crew were apprehended last night, when Zadina had stumbled into a no-flying zone, issued by the Galaxy Police. A look alike to the Jurain princess Sasami is said to be an accomplice of Zadina's."
"Sasami?!" Noboyuki yelled. "Yosho! Ayeka! Kiyone! Ryoko! Wake up! You've got to see this!"
When Yosho, Ayeka, and Kiyone had collected they were showing mug shots of Zadina first, then Sasami, and finally Ryo-ohki.
"Sasami? What is Sasami doing up there?" Ayeka questioned.
"The reporter said that it was a fake, Ayeka." Noboyuki told her.
"That was no fake, that was my sister. Kiyone, can you find out everything you are capable of about this case?" Ayeka said worriedly.
"No problem." Said Kiyone.
Ryoko, by now, had stumbled out of bed and down to the living room. She was trying to find out what the problem was when she heard her name on the news.
"We also have reason to believe that the space pirate Ryoko had something to do with the murders of the 5 GP officers. Ryoko's ship, Ryo-ohki, was found on board Zadina's stolen ship last night. Whether Ryoko was truly part of the crimes is not yet certain."
"Me?!" Ryoko complained, "I knew something was wrong with that cabbit! Why did I ignore it?"
"Oh, please! My problem is far worse than yours!" Ayeka sobbed, "My sister is out there all alone, with no one there to comfort her, or to support her!"
Tenchi had woken up, but didn't draw any attention. He put his arms around Ayeka.
"It's okay, Ayeka. We'll find Sasami." Tenchi said to her quietly.
"Well, of course you will, Tenchi." Yosho said, "You have been trained well, you won't fail."
Washu's door flung open. She casually strolled out, like she always has, and looked at the group.
"I see you have just found out the news." Washu said knowingly.
"You mean you've known and you didn't tell me?!" Ayeka looked at Washu in shock.
"Of course, I knew! I AM the smartest genius in the universe!"
Washu walked in circles around the group.
"I know you all will be wanting to go after her, but in order for this to work, I need Kiyone and Mihoshi here with the ship. So, your going to have to find other means of transportation. I have a small ship you *might* be able to use but it can only fit 3 people, and that's cramped. Since the person I trust most out of you all is Tenchi, I suggest that you let him go."
"Perfect! I'm going, too!" Ayeka demanded.
"Hold on, princess. That's my cabbit out there. I'm going." Ryoko protested.
"Your measly cabbit is out there with a princess of Jurai! MY SISTER!"
"I'm going and there's nothing you can do about it, Ayeka!"
"Why don't you try me! I'm getting on that ship no matter what!"
"Hold on, you two." Washu advised, "You both can go."
"Humph!"
Ayeka went and packed. She kept her luggage to a simple bag, because she knew their quarters were tight. Ryoko's packing was light, too. She brought 4 bottles of Saki. Tenchi was in his room packing, and Yosho walked into Tenchi's room.
"Hey, Grandpa."
"Tenchi, I have something to tell you."
"I know, I know. Be careful, and try to stay away from Ryoko and Ayeka."
"No, not that."
"Well, then what is it, Grandpa?"
"There is a boken that has been in our family for generations. I have kept it for years, I wasn't sure if your father was ready for it."
Tenchi tried to imagine his father training, it just didn't fit.
"Here, Tenchi. I want you to keep this, to give to your son when he's ready."
"Thank you, Grandpa."
Ryoko, Ayeka, and Tenchi all banged on Washu's door when they were ready to go.
"Uh, Ryoko. Don't you think you should..." Tenchi was interrupted once again.
"Ready, already? All right, everyone in the ship." Washu directed.
That turned around a corner, and saw it. What could possibly be the smallest ship in the world. It was the green you see on an American army uniform. Although it was painted in the ugliest color in the world, it was also oddly shaped. It was rather long, but very thin. It was about two people lengths wide.
Tenchi, Ryoko, and Ayeka all looked at the ship oddly. They slowly approached it, not knowing what to think.
"Look, I know it's small, but it will do for now."
"Right, thanks for letting us use it, Washu." Tenchi said politely.
"No problem. Just get Sasami back."
They boarded their cramped quarters, only able to fit one in at a time. The anterior seemed to be a dirt yellow color. They saw a bunk bed and a twin sized bed shoved to the side of the wall. Beside the bunk bed was a cabinet to store randomly needed things. Washu had already stocked this with food. Beside the twin sized bed, there was a small Right past that, was the control deck. The control deck was a color all to it's self. It was the same green as the outside of the ship, which made it seem to stand out.
Tenchi went and sat down in the pilot's seat. He thought back to the summer time, when Kiyone had taught him to fly a ship.
"I call the top bunk!" Ryoko yelped, and immediately jumped to her resting spot.
"Oh, no you don't. I want the top bed!" Ayeka said this as she grabbed Ryoko's ankle, stopping her in mid-flight.
"Now, now. There must be a logical way of solving this dispute." Washu said neutrally. She had boarded upon the ship when everyone was busy.
"I called it first, Washu!" Ryoko said trying to wiggle her ankle out of Ayeka's grip.
"You did not! I had it first! I just wasn't rude enough to shout it aloud!" Ayeka protested.
"Ayeka, you take the bed. Ryoko, you can have to top bunk, and Tenchi will sleep on the bottom bunk."
"Now, I shall permit Ryoko to sleep on the top bunk, but I insist that you let Lord Tenchi sleep on the bed. I will sleep on the bottom bunk."
"All right, Ayeka. If you insist. Is that all right with you, Tenchi?"
"Fine with me!" Tenchi agreed.
Ryoko stuck her tongue out at Ayeka. Ayeka turned her back and began to unpack. She found an empty drawer to put her clothes in, and put what little food she brought with her with the rest of her rations. Ryoko also put her bottles of alcohol with their food. Tenchi yawned, as he shoved his belongings in any available place. There was no time for him to doddle around with neatness. Ayeka sighed, and straighten his things. She couldn't stand to see anything so unorganized. Washu opened a portal into space, and Tenchi fired up the ship.
"All ready, now?" Washu said through her new invention. She called it the Galaxy Walkie-Talkie. The ship was rather old, and didn't have anyways of communication outside of the ship.
"Yep. Next time we see you, we'll have Sasami with us!"
And with that they flew through the portal, out into space, and began their voyage.
Sasami sat in the corner of a new jail cell, crying again. She now had a more comfortable living style, but it was still jail. It had a simple shelf, on the wall to the left of the entrance of the cell, where the other inmates kept what little belongings they were allowed to keep. Along the wall right in front of the entrance lied a cozy bed in the corner. In the most hidden corner, was a toilet. "Everyone needs at least some privacy", was the motto to the action of installing a toilet in every cell.
Sasami cried into her hands. Rubbed her arm. It was recently bandaged where the glass had punctured her. The bandage was annoyingly itchy, and the antiseptic spray stung her arm, so the annoyance from that had still remained in her arm. Sasami wiped her eyes free of tears and sighed.
"Ayeka," She said to herself. "Please come get me."
Just then, an alarm began to sound. A voice came from above her saying repeatedly, "Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert." A delayed rumble came to her cell; everything was shaken. The bed shifted out of place, and the toilet seat jumped up and down.
Sasami stood up and ran to the entrance of her "cage". Yet again another rumble came to her corridors. This time the toilet seat flew off it's hinges, and hit the shelf. The shelf fell to the ground; it crashed and broke apart. Splinters flew everywhere. This startled Sasami, and she shrieked. She began to bang on the door that kept her locked in. The alarm voice spoke up again. "Start evacuation sequence." It said this about five times before falling silent once again. Sasami beat the door as hard as she could, hoping to be heard. She heard the inmates around her following her footsteps. Their shrill cries gave Sasami chills. She heard the beating of footsteps against the ground. One by one, the cells to her left were opened. Sasami sighed and calmed down. A guard opened her cell, immediately handcuffed her, and began to run her down the hall to a small escape pod.
Sasami saw plenty of the guards and prisoners sprint ahead of her. She saw the pod she was headed for be filled by another guard and prisoner. She couldn't worry about that, yet. She was having too many problems with the guard she was accompanied by. She did her best to ignore the random insults thrown at her. He would yell at her to run faster, but she was doing her best. Her legs couldn't carry her much faster.
They ran from pod to pod looking for an empty one. All of the had either left or were occupied. Sasami heard run shots fired from far away, slowly they got closer. A pod door violently flung open. Out came Zadina, her handcuffs still binding her hands together. "Jump in, Kid!" She yelled at Sasami. Sasami went to the pod, but to her surprise she found the guard jump in before her, and take off in the pod.
"Oh, no. What are we gonna do?" Sasami said as she trembled.
Sasami buried her face into Zadina's stomach, and let out a few tears. Zadina looked up and saw a group of men approaching them, each one armed with a gun.
"Okay, when I saw go, we're going to run. Do you understand?"
"Mmhhmm. I understand."
"Okay. Ready? GO!"
Sasami broke into a wild sprint, and Zadina ran along side of her. The guns fired from behind them. They heard the rattle of the guns, the rattle that would be their deaths. Zadina fell to the ground, as she was hit in the back. Sasami turned, and rushed to her side. Sasami shook Zadina.
"Wake up, Zadina. Wake up. We need to go! They're going to get us!"
"Run... Now.."
Sasami stood, and began to sprint again. She was so shaken she couldn't cry. She was so over-whelmed with fear, all she could do was run.
Zadina watched Sasami run. "Why did I bring her into this?" She thought to herself. It was Zadina's idea, to risk her life for the one she had kidnapped. Zadina had nothing to live for after this, so she might as well try to save Sasami's life.
The guns continued to fire behind her. She felt a bullet pierce into her leg, she fell to the ground. Sasami rolled over, so she wasn't lying on her injured arm. She scream in pain. In the middle of her howl, another bullet hit her arm. Sasami's voice failed her now. She closed her eyes, and cringed. She gripped her injured arm, as she heard the men's voices.
"This one's dead." One reported.
"The young one is still alive. We'll bring her to the boss."
"Can't we just kill her? It'll save us our rations."
"I said we're bringing her to Yamobi, and that's what we're going to do! Now, bring her onto the ship."
She felt a heavily breathing man pick her up. He smelled of fish and gin. In the man's arms, she officially passed out.
"RYOKO!" Ayeka screeched, "Give me back my bag!"
"Now, now, now, Princess. I want to see what little goodies you brought along for us!"
"Stop it, Girls!"
"Aw! And what is this I see!"
"Ryoko! Don't you dare!"
"It's a night light! Now, Ayeka, what are you packing a night light for?"
"For.. For my reading. Now, give me back my bag!"
"Well, that's funny, I don't see any books in here."
Ayeka reached for her bag. But, her face was rudely greeted by Ryoko's hand. Ayeka waved her arms around trying to grip the bag.
"Wait a minute, I'm not done yet."
Ryoko grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on. Luckily for her, it was Ayeka's stuffed teddy bear, Mr. Snuggles.
"Ayyeeekkaa," Ryoko taunted, "Look who I have!"
"Ryoko! You give Mr. Snuggles back right this instant!"
"Mr. Snuggles?!"
Ryoko busted out laughing, she fell over, and began to roll on the ground.
"Mr.. Mr.... SNUGGLES!"
Ayeka growled, grabbed her teddy bear and her bag. She tossed the remainder of her things onto her bed. She sat down on it and sighed.
"One day, Ryoko. I will get back at you." She whispered to herself. Of course, Ryoko couldn't hear it over her laughing.
"Ayeka! Ryoko! You should come see this."
Ayeka immediately rushed to Tenchi's side. Ryoko lazily picked herself off of the ground, brushed the dust off of her clothes, and went to go see. Ryoko shoved her way in and looked out into space. She saw a Galaxy Police Station completely blown to bits. What was left of it had turned completely ash black. The shell had a hole ever two feet, large massive holes showed where they had used major weapons. The guards and prisoners unlucky enough to not get out of the Station in time, were most obviously killed. But, their bodies floated around the ship, hanging in a very morbid way. This sight made a chill run down Ayeka's back.
"Oh, no.."
"What has happened here?"
"Tenchi, did you see any other ships earlier?"
"Well, yeah. About... two. But that was it."
"Tenchi, I believe that Sasami is still alive. I can just feel it. Do you think that she would have boarded one of those ships?"
"Hold on a second, Ayeka." Ryoko said after listening to the two talk for a while.
"What is it?"
"I think I see something. Tenchi, turn to the left."
Tenchi did as he was commanded to, Ryoko saw something that made her jump, and made Ayeka gasp.
"Ships!" Ayeka yelled out in hope.
"Not only ships. Those are cabbits." Ryoko muttered.
Sasami woke up on the floor. She opened her eyes, but immediately closed them after seeing several pairs of feet walk past her. She could still feel the bullets in her arm and her leg. She held her arm, and held back her tears. Slowly, the universe was making her tougher.
"Come on now, stand up. We know your awake." A woman's voice said to her.
"I can't." Sasami replied, "It hurts."
"Now, now, a princess of Jurai not strong enough to pick herself up? Come now, stand up."
Sasami let her arm go, and stood up weakly. She opened her eyes and looked upon five people. Four of them were male, and one was female. She grabbed her arm again.
The woman who had spoken to her was very pale. She had long dark black hair, which drifted over her uniform. It was unlike any other Sasami had seen before. It was black, trimmed in navy, with a single gold patch on her left coat pocket. To men rushed from her side, to Sasami's. Both grabbed one of her arms, and carried her to the woman. Sasami howled in pain as they did this. Her arm had been injured so many times that it had gone from a deep, but thin cut. To almost, a hole in her arm.
"Settle yourself, child." The woman smiled after saying this. She meant her smile to be comforting, but her smile was so wicked and twisted, it only frightening Sasami.
"Yamobi, what do you want us to do with her?"
"Bring her to the on-board doctor, get the bullets out of her arm and leg. Tell him to give her a painkiller. Then, give her a room and a decent meal. Be sure to see that she doesn't leave."
"Yes, ma'am." The men replied and escorted Sasami down a hall.
The hall seemed heavenly. It was an ivory colored marble, on every side, including the ceiling and floor. Lamps lit up the hallway, with a nice golden glow. Sasami stopped to look at a lamp. Luckily, one of the men had 3 children of his own, so he stood by her while she studied it. The handle, which connected it to the marble wall, was made of brass. Glass with intricate designs, covered the light bulb. The design on the glass was a flower bush. Sasami walked through the hall, with her hand still over her arm, admiring the hall. Finally, the reached the Doctor's office.
"She had bullets in her leg and in her arm. The Mistress wants you to give her a painkiller." And with that, the two men sat down on two of the chairs, which were pushed away in the corner.
"Come, darling. Sit on the chair."
There was a large examining chair that was placed right in the middle of the office. Sasami hopped up onto the chair with the assistance of the doctor. She looked around the office. It was packed. On one side of the room there was a counter, with cabinets above it. One of the cabinets was open; it was full of medicines. All along the counter lied charts of all sorts. A desk sat in the corner of the room, beside the chairs which the men sat in. The desk had scattered papers covering it. Sasami felt a poke right below her left shoulder. The doctor had given her a shot.
"Okay, now, lie back. This shot will make you a little sleepy."
"Okay."
Sasami did as she was told and stared at the ceiling. By the time the doctor had started to remove the bandage from her arm, she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. Finally, she gave up and began to fall asleep. By the time the bandage was totally removed, Sasami was in a deep sleep.
"Uh, oh. Almost out of gas." Tenchi muttered.
Ayeka was standing next to Tenchi, holding a cup of coffee for him. Ryoko had fallen asleep long ago; Tenchi's words were the only thing besides Ryoko's snoring that had interrupted the silence.
"There's a plant off the right. We can land there, and rest here for the night."
"Good idea, Ayeka."
"I will be off to be now, then. Good night, Lord Tenchi."
"Good night, Ayeka."
She gave Tenchi his cup of coffee, and with that; Ayeka set off for bed. Ayeka pulled the plaid sheet down. The neatly folded it over. Ayeka brushed her teeth, and spat into a cup. There was no bathroom, which became to be a problem when nature had called. Ayeka climbed into her bed, and slowly fell to sleep, thinking of her sister. The last thing she heard before she had fallen into a dream was the soft pitter-patter of Tenchi's feet. After that, Ayeka dozed off into a dream.
Ayeka floated though the air, and fell in a field. The field was covered with
flowers. It was all sorts of colors. Reds, whites, pinks, purples, yellows, and greens. Some what like her gardens in Jurai. It was the most beautiful thing Ayeka saw. There, just a few meters away from her, Sasami was playing in the field. She was chasing Ryo-ohki, and making small flower crowns to fit on her head.
"Sasami!" Ayeka called, "Sasami!"
"Ayeka!" Sasami yelled back, and began to run to her
Ayeka sprinted through the flowers to catch her sister. But, as she ran closer, Sasami seemed to get farther away. The sky began to turn a deep gray, full of swirling clouds, and the thundered rolled. Sasami fell to the ground, trying to hide. Ayeka ran to her, and held Sasami in her arms.
"It's okay, Sasami." Ayeka said trying to comfort the child. "Everything will be fine."
"I lost Ryo-ohki." Sasami sputtered through her tears.
"That's okay, Sasami. We will find her tomorrow."
"Okay, Ayeka." Sasami said brushing away her tears.
A black mist formed around the clouds. Ayeka looked up at it, and it seemed to grin back at her. Ayeka looked down at Sasami, frightened. The mist floated down to Ayeka and Sasami, still grinning. The mist formed arms, and reached out for Sasami. Ayeka gripped onto Sasami tighter. The arms grabbed Sasami from Ayeka, violently. Sasami drifted into the clouds, like a stolen doll, that Ayeka was never to see again. Ayeka fell to the ground crying, and yelling out Sasami's name.
"No! Sasami! No!"
"Ayeka! Ayeka!"
Ayeka woke from her dream and saw Tenchi sitting by her bed. She could still hear Ryoko's snoring, but the light was pouring into the ship.
"Oh, Tenchi. It was awful. I was so scared."
"It's okay, Ayeka. It was just a dream."
Sasami had awoke not too long after the operation, she had slept enough for the day. She could vaguely see the objects in the room. She blinked to get the blur away from her vision. Slowly, the items in the room began to piece together. The room was rather large, it was obviously meant for more than one person. Yet, there was only one bed, the bed that Sasami was lying in. Sasami down at her sheets. There was a white comforter, and a red sheet underneath it. The pillows behind her were also red and white but her an assortment of various sizes and shapes. Sasami was on a canopy bed. She could tell because a large sheer fabric floated over her bed.
Sasami's arm was bandaged more professionally than before. Sasami pulled back the sheets, and saw that her leg was bandaged also. Sasami began to get out bed, when a figure walked into the room. Sasami watched it carefully. The figure approached the bed, and Sasami slid to the opposite side of the bed. The figure hung something from the bed, and slowly opened the fabric, which had provided Sasami comfort, acting as a wall. Yamobi stood before her. Yamobi, smiled sinisterly at Sasami.
"Come now, I brought you a dress, i'm sure you will like it." Yamobi said kindly, "Come, look at it."
Sasami crawled off the bed and stood a foot or two away from Yamobi. Yamobi gave Sasami the dress and began to walk away.
"Remember, dinner will be at seven. After dinner, you and I will search for new a few dresses. I hope you like your room."
Sasami looked at the dress. It was white, and covered with lace. The collar, sleeves, and bottom of the dress were all trimmed with a blue that matched her hair. Below the dress were some white socks, with the same blue trimming and a pair of fancy white shoes. Sasami set the dress down on the bed, and began to search around her room.
She had thirty minutes until she had to be at dinner. Beside the bed, was a small table. On the table was a paper bag. Sasami walked to the table and peeked inside of the bag. It contained two pill bottles. Sasami pulled the pill bottles out of the bag and read their labels. In the pill bottles, were pain killers for her arm and leg. Sasami placed the bottles back into the bag and began to search around the rest of the room. She saw a large shelf on one of the walls. In it were books by the hundreds. Sasami ran her finger along the books' sides. She skimmed over the titles. She saw some of her favorite books among the others. A corner from the room was built into a new room. This connecting room was the bathroom. The bathroom was one of the few rooms not made of marble. Instead, the floor was tile and only the walls were marble. A big change to Sasami write now. Sasami took her dress into the bathroom and changed into it. The dress scratched at her neck. But, beside that the dress was rather comfortable. Sasami changed her socks and shoes, and looked at herself in the mirror. She decided that she liked the dress and smiled.
Sasami galloped back outside into the room. She had found a door she hadn't noticed before. She opened it up and looked inside. It was a closet. It was completely empty beside the mirror which stood in front of her. Sasami twirled, and trotted outside to go to dinner.
"Ryoko." Tenchi muttered to her, while shaking her shoulder. "Ryoko, wake up."
"Huh? What?" Ryoko stammered.
"Morning, Ryoko."
Ryoko rubbed her eyes and sat up. She looked at Tenchi, and smiled. To her surprise, Tenchi smiled back. Tenchi hopped down from the ladder connecting to the upper bunk. Ryoko looked around the ship. Ayeka was awake already, and had been pre-paring a breakfast from the rations they had on board.
"It's about time." Ayeka muttered under her breath as Ryoko stumbled down from her bed.
"Well, now. I suppose it's time for us to plan our day, isn't it?" Ayeka suggested.
"Good idea, Ayeka. Okay, Ryoko, where's the money."
Ayeka and Ryoko looked at Tenchi in confusion.
"What are you talking about? I don't have the money. I thought Ayeka brought it."
"Well, I assumed that Lord Tenchi, being the man in this voyage, would handle the money."
"Great, we've got nothing." Tenchi sighed.
Ryoko laughed. Ayeka was frustrated by the way Ryoko just blew everything off.
"Now, what's so funny?! This is not a time to be laughing, Ryoko!"
"It's just that after all of the times we have forgotten the money for gas, you'd think we would remember by now."
"Ryoko..." Ayeka and Tenchi muttered together.
Sasami skipped down the hall, humming. Then, she realized she didn't have a clue where the dinner table was. So, she put her nose to work, and sniffed around for the welcoming smell of food. This only lead her to a man that smelled heavily of potatoes. He guided her to the kitchen. Yamobi was sitting in the kitchen, checking over the cooks and the dishes they were preparing.
"Ah, there you are." Yamobi said when Sasami entered the room. "You may choose any dish you want."
"Hm." Sasami continued to hum as she chose. "That one!"
The cook handed her a dish of Cashew Chicken. Yamobi lead her to the dinner table. It was massive. Sasami guessed it was meant to sit 500 people, yet there were only two chairs.
"Is anyone else joining us?" Sasami asked.
"Well, of course. I brought you some playmates."
Three cooks came out with large platters completely covered in carrots. Sasami stared at the platters, thinking of Ryo-ohki. Sasami imagined Ryo-ohki hopping up onto the table and meowing at her. Ryo-ohki nuzzled at
her hand, and Sasami could feel wet nose.
"Meow!" Ryo-ohki said loudly.
"Ryo-ohki? It is you!"
Sasami scooped the cabbit into her arms, and hugged her tightly. Ryo-ohki purred lovingly. Sasami looked over Ryo-ohki's head and saw cabbits surrounding the platters. Sasami's eyes lit up. Three very plump cabbits hopped up to Sasami. They all jumped into her arms, and let Ryo-ohki go eat. Sasami hugged the cabbits happily. She set the cabbit down on the table, beside her plate, and shared her meal with any cabbit who decided to hop over to her.
"Tenchi, do you know where you landed?" Ryoko said calmly as she got out of the ship.
"Well, of course. In a field."
"What type of field?"
"Are there certain types of feilds now?"
"Tenchi, just come look at this."
As Tenchi stepped off of the ship, he saw the ship was surrounded by cows, and their droppings.
"Oh, Tenchi. Might there be a little bit of gas left that might get us closer to a town?" Ayeka asked as she peeked over his shoulder.
"There might be."
Ayeka moved to a bed, letting Tenchi by. She ended up hopping onto Ryoko's bed. Ryoko walked back onto the ship, disgusted, and sat on Ayeka's bed. As they took off, Ayeka felt a little lump on Ryoko's bed. Ayeka pulled back the sheets and found a small stuffed cow. Ayeka smiled devilishly. Finally, she was able to gain revenge on Ryoko.
"Oh, Ryoko!" She called.
"What?"
"I thought you didn't like cows."
Ryoko gasped. Her head shot out at Ayeka.
"Ayeka, if you do anything to Bessy you'll wish you never woke up this morning!!"
Ayeka smiled evilly, and held back a laugh. Ryoko lunged for the cow. Ayeka scrambled down the ladder, jumped onto her bed, and laughed her heart out.
"AYEKA!"
Tenchi was able to get them about quarter of a mile from a small town. Ryoko and Ayeka walked at other sides of the road. Tenchi walked with Ryoko, leaving Ayeka lonely on the other side of the road. They walked down to town, all of them were silent. It took them about 20 minutes to get into town, and find a gas station. The gas station had a porch connected to the entrance. On the porch was an old man, sleeping in his rocking chair. Tenchi peeked inside, but no one was there.
"Excuse me, Sir?" Ayeka said.
The old man woke up, confused.
"What? Who? Who's there?"
The old man picked up his bifocals and looked upon Ayeka and Ryoko.
"Weeeell, it looks like we have some lovely looking ladies here."
"Oh, please." Ryoko said rolling her eyes.
"Sir? Might there be someway that we could make an agreement. You see, our ship is out of gas, and we don't have any money." Ayeka pleaded.
"Well, I suppose I could do a little something for you..."
"Great! Thanks" Ryoko interrupted. "But, do you have anything we could transport the gas in?"
"Well, I gots that can over there."
An aluminum can stood around some weeds. It was about up to Ryoko's waist. Ryoko hastily filled the can, and wheeled it away before the man could object. Tenchi ran after her, leaving poor Ayeka with the old man.
"Now, about our deal.."
The old man goosed Ayeka and gave her a toothless grin as Ayeka spun around in shock.
"Now, that is no way to treat a Jurain Princess!"
"Oh! She's a feisty one!"
Angered, Ayeka ran back to the ship trying to catch up with Tenchi.
Sasami lied in bed, staring at the several dresses Yamobi had bought for her. She sat up and looked around her room. Her entire room was like a mine field of cabbits. Ryo-ohki hopped into her lap, and curled up. Sasami petted the cabbit and sighed. She missed everyone back home. She missed Washu and Kiyone. She even missed Ryoko. But most of all, she missed Ayeka. Sasami's mind had drifted back to how she was going to get home. She looked at Ryo-ohki.
"Ryo-ohki?" Sasami whispered. "Are you still awake."
A small meow came from Ryo-ohki.
"Tomorrow, Ryo-ohki. We're going to get out of here, and go home.
Yamobi wandered around a game room laughing to herself. She was playing pool with herself. One of her employees came into the room, balancing a tray on his hand. On the tray, was a glass, and a bottle of Saki.
"Ah. Thank you."
The employee nodded his head, and headed for the door.
"No, no. Please stay."
"Yes, ma'am."
The employee sat down, and Yamobi continued playing pool. She laughed again. The employee watched her wearily. Just like the rest of Yamobi's staff, he was deathly afraid of her.
"M... Ma'am? Why are you laughing?"
Yamobi shot a glance at him. This made the employee sink into his chair. Yamobi smiled, and laughed sinisterly once again.
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Yes ma'am."
"I'll make you a promise. If you hold this secret, you'll become the second in command."
The employee sat up in his chair, immediately interested.
"Now, the only reason I need that Sasami girl around for two reasons. I need to attract her sister, Ayeka."
"But, why?"
"With Ayeka dead, who would be the next to the thrown? Sasami, of course. Yosho would never go back. So, I need Sasami. After Sasami takes the thrown, she will obey me, and I will rule all of Jurai!"
Yamobi laughed in her brilliance and hopped onto the pool table.
"Aren't I brilliant?"
"You truly are ma'am."
"Hm. Call me Yamobi."
Sasami woke up with a paw patting her forehead. A curious cabbit had hopped onto her bed, and was now playing with her face. She felt her cheeks be stretched apart. She picked up the cabbit and blinked at it.
"Well, hello there."
"Miya!"
Sasami giggled as she heard all of the energy-full cabbits playing in the room. She stepped off her bed, and saw a man sitting in the corner of the room.
"Yamobi wants to see you. Dress nicely."
And with that he left the room.
"Okay, we're getting out of here. Cabbits, follow me. When you hear me, Ryo-ohki, turn into a ship. Okay? Let's go."
Sasami, followed by 31 cabbits, finally stopped when she had felt like she had ran for a mile and a half.
"NOW, RYO-OHKI!" She yelled as loud as she could.
A loud cracking noise echoed through the ship. The floor began to crack as it neared her. Sasami and the cabbits began to run. Sasami and all of the cabbits appeared in Ryo-ohki formed as a ship. The cabbits ran around frantically until Sasami calmed them. Sasami looked out of one of the screens, looking for which way they were going to head to. Sasami saw a ship. The ship was oddly shaped. It was long, and not that wide. And to make it worse, it was an awful green color. Sasami looked closer to the ship, though the window on the ship. Sasami gasped.
"Tenchi!" She yelled.
"Ryo-ohki?" Tenchi muttered as he saw the ship out in the distance.
Ryoko leaped from her bed and to Tenchi's side.
"That IS Ryo-ohki!"
"But, what's that behind them?" Ayeka pointed out.
"That's another ship."
"What's that on its side?"
"I think that is a hole."
"It doesn't look that big."
The ship it's self was massive. It turned to face Ryo-ohki and Washu's ship. Suddenly, a large glowing net was caste over both ships. The ships clashed together violently. The sharp edges of Ryo-ohki dug into Washu's ship. Tenchi, Ayeka, and Ryoko were all thrust to one side of the ship. Ayeka was knocked out by the blow to her head. She slowly watched the image of Tenchi fade from her sight.
When Ayeka woke, she was in a room with Sasami, Tenchi, and Ryoko.
"Sasami!" She instantly lunged for her sister.
"Ayeka!" Sasami wrapped her arms around Ayeka.
"Such a happy moment." Said a voice Sasami knew all too well.
Yamobi stood in the doorway. She smiled at them the same sinisterly way she always did. She slowly entered the room, followed by her "right-hand-man". Yamobi help the gun in her hand tightly.
"Well, it seems i'm killing two birds with one stone. Or shall I say four."
"Leave them out of this!" Sasami scream and stood up defensively.
"Oh, I have had just about enough of you."
Yamobi snapped her fingers, and the man grabbed Sasami by the arms and pulled her away from Ayeka.
"Well, well, Ayeka. I seem to have somewhat of a death sentence for you."
Yamobi snapped her fingers once again, and the man let go of Sasami's arms to toss a gun to Yamobi. She took one look at Ayeka's terrified face, looked away, and shot. Sasami threw her body out in front of Ayeka. A high pitched shriek sounded. Sasami fell to the ground and looked up at her sister. Blood seeped from Sasami's chest. Ayeka looked down at her sister, and frantically picked her up, and ran while Yamobi's back was turned. Ryoko and Tenchi followed close behind her. Ryoko ran in front of Ayeka.
"This way!" She yelled as they heard footsteps of their two predators pound behind them.
Gunshots fired as the turned the corner. A loud blast sounded before them. Tenchi and Ayeka stopped in their tracks. Then, the rattling of Yamobi's gun made them run again.
"MEEOOW!"
Ayeka and Tenchi looked side to side as they ran, and were instantly transported onto Ryo-ohki. Ayeka lied Sasami on the ground. Both of them were now stained with Sasami's blood. Ryoko rushed to Ayeka's side, as Tenchi ripped off one of his sleeves to cover Sasami's wound. Sasami took one last look at her sister, Ryoko, and Tenchi, before redness had filled her eyes, and Sasami could see no more. Tenchi felt Sasami's wrist, checking for a pulse. He lowered his head, and Sasami's wrist onto the ground. Ayeka burst into tears. She cried on Ryoko's shoulder, and Ryoko tried to console her.
Two weeks had passed since Sasami's death, but things in the house weren't any better. Ayeka still wept in her room privately, even though she denied it. Everyone in the house had cried once or twice, but none could compare to the hurt Ayeka felt. Sasami's grave was now littered with any flower, or any remembrance of Sasami.
Sasami's funeral had the most affect on Washu, and Kiyone. Ayeka was the last to speak of her sister's death.
"Sasami was the most caring, and giving person in the universe. I regret that I did not just give a little bit more to her. Spend a few more days with her. I regret that I didn't watch her more closely." A tear ran down Ayeka's cheek. "I wish that I wasn't the one still here, I wish that Sasami would be in my place." Ayeka swept a hand across her face, wiping away her tears. "But, the thing I wish most is, such a wonderful person, didn't have to struggle through all of that, just to be let down, by one single bullet.."