Introduction and DisclaimerWell, here's part two :) I have to admit that, while writing this, I only have the vaguest of ideas as to where things are going. I have themes buzzing in my head and that's about it - so there's every possibility that this story might end up in a completely different scenario from the one I expect it to.
Not much else to say except to reinforce the facts that this is a TUxOVA storyverse, with a TenchiXRyoko pairing and a completely reworked Jurai family tree, meshed from the TU and the OVA universes into something approaching coherence.
please do take the time to review - I have no official proof reader (although I have one charming amigo who takes a peek at things now and then) and I rely on review/feedback info to let me know whether I should be continuing down this path or what. So if you can take the time to leave a quick comment, I appreciate it more than I can say and constructive criticism is always welcome :)
Usual legal bumf (copyrights etc) apply
:) As the smoke clears over the city of Osaka, Tenchi
and Ryoko are waking up to the fact that life on this remote planet
will never be quite the same again. Even Tenchi's own college friends
aren't sure what to think, and Tenchi has never felt so isolated in
the world he's always called his home. In the remote security
of the mountains, Washu is already beginning to hatch a plan, calling
old friends into her web of intrigue as she tries to get to the
bottom of the attack. Discovering the secrets that Seiryo Tennan
keeps locked away comes with a price, however, and when her spy is
brutally attacked, even Washu realises that they're in over her head.
When an innocently spoken word seems to hold the key to everything,
Washu knows that they're playing a much bigger game than she'd ever
imagined...a game which will drag her right back to her past and a
decision she made several milennia before. On the planet
Jurai, Sasami is receiving signals from a desperate Tsunami. Better
than anyone, the Goddess knows what Tokimi is capable of, but can
Sasami convince her Emperor and her sister that Jurai is in danger?
As she discovers the true nature of her bond with Tsunami-kami-sama,
she knows that the Priestess of Kihaku has made a terrible mistake.
Not even Ayeka seems keen to leave the safe confines of Jurai's
peaceful world...but Sasami knows that Tsunami's word must be heeded
at all costs - even at the cost of her own life. And who is
the mysterious Yume, who seems to suddenly be so interested in
Tenchi? HAWK OF JURAI: PART TWO A Tenchi
Muyo! Fanfiction Chapter One
SynopsisPlanet Earth is
reeling.
by
VRAIEESPRIT
"Blessed of this World, grant health and prosperity to this new life."
The man bent his
head, sketching a symbol of peace and protection in the air. In the
mother's arms, the newborn infant uttered a gurgle, closing his eyes
as sleep claimed him, and the man's eyes softened with tenderness as
he gently touched the baby's brow. "His benediction is
complete." He murmured softly. "Have peace with you also,
Yukio-san. You must rest. The world has accepted him as one of its
own." "Thank you, Lord Priest." The woman
offered him a smile of gratitude, wrapping her burden more securely
in the tattered blanket that warmed his small body. "I
will call on you again in a week." The Priest acknowledged her
smile with one of his own, bringing his hands together in another
devout sign. "Sleep, Yukio-san. The World will not claim this
baby from your arms." As the tired mother rose to her
feet, placing the small, squirming bundle in the makeshift cradle,
the Priest withdrew from the tiny, cramped hovel, pausing as he
stepped into the bright sunlight and glancing around him for his
companions. "Is the baby well, Otosan?" An
eager voice drew his attention to his side and he gazed down into the
eager eyes of a young girl, no more than seven or eight summers, with
thick waves of brown hair pulled back from her face. He smiled,
nodding his head. "Yes, and the mother also, Kihaku be
praised." He said softly. "All is well here...the World is
satisfied and the child will live." "I'm glad."
The child's expression became one of relief. "Yukio-san has lost
many children already...I know she thought the World was punishing
her for taking a new husband when her first one drowned. But now she
knows that isn't true...and I'm glad." "How did you
know of that, Tokimi-chan?" The Priest bent to her level,
touching the youngster gently on the cheek as he did so. "Has
Yukio-san confided in you?" "I've heard her at
prayer, before the weekly Ritual." Tokimi admitted. "I
don't mean to eavesdrop, Father, but she always sounds so fervent and
she never seems to mind that I'm there sweeping the steps. She came
every day before the new baby was born, and I so wanted this one to
be a happy time for her. She's so kind." "I agree."
The Priest nodded his head. "And so does Kihaku. She and her
baby are blessed today, and we'll give thanks for it tonight, before
we eat." He turned, glancing around him. "Where
is your sister?" He asked. "I told you both not to wander
off." "I'm here, Otosan." A fresh voice joined
the conversation and the Priest turned to see an older girl of maybe
twelve years regarding him solemnly with sharp green eyes, a book
clutched in one hand and her hair severely tamed back from her face
with thick, braided cord of many colours. "Are we ready to
go?" "Don't you also want to know about the baby,
masume-chan?" The Priest asked gently. The girl shrugged her
shoulders, a smile touching her lips. "I heard you tell
Tokimi that he would be all right." She said. "And I'm glad
too, Father." The Priest pursed his lip, crossing the
ground to her side and gently taking the book from her grasp, turning
it over in his hands. He frowned, glancing up at her, and she met his
gaze defiantly. "This isn't a holy text." He
murmured. "I have already told you, my child, that your path
doesn't run in that direction. One day you will have to take on my
work here, as Priestess of Kihaku. What use will the ramblings of
invading heathens be when you have to control the spirit and the soul
of a planet balanced so delicately between peace and
destruction?" The girl sighed, shaking her head. "I
was just curious." She said, a sad look touching her face. "The
Newcomers don't lose babies like we do - and mothers don't die when
they give birth, either. They don't trust in Kihaku to save them,
Father, but they still live and prosper. Why?" The Priest
looked stricken, his grasp tightening on the text in his hand as he
grabbed his daughter roughly by the shoulders. "I will
not have you questioning the decisions of the World in favour of the
Newcomers and their heresies!" He said darkly. "This will
stop and it will stop now. All lives are forfeit to Kihaku's grace -
your own as much as any of them. You have a lot to learn before you
become a Priestess, mark my words." The girl was silent
for a moment, as if digesting this. Then she raised her gaze to his,
meeting his angry green eyes with impassive ones of her
own. "Perhaps I don't want to be Priestess, then."
She said softly. "If it means letting people die who shouldn't
have to. I don't understand why, Otosan. If the World is good, why do
so many people suffer? And if the Newcomers are heretics, why don't
they suffer along with us?" "Not another word!"
The Priest thundered, tossing the book to the ground with a thud loud
enough to make both young girls jump. "We will return home and
we will give thanks for the life of Yukio-san and her baby...and I
will not hear another word of heresy pass your lips unless you wish
to endure a flogging for it come the dawn!" "Shut
up, you idiot." Tokimi slipped her hand into her sister's grip,
squeezing it tightly. "You say silly things and you only make
Father angry." She raised her blueish eyes to her
father's. "Please, Otosan, don't be cross." She
emplored. "This is a happy day." The Priest opened
his mouth to snap, then hesitated, shaking his head. "You
are right, Tokimi-chan." He murmured. "And I must not upset
Kihaku by acting with violence on a day the World has honoured. We
will return and we will celebrate in peace, as a family. Come, both
of you. There will be no more talk of Newcomers. They live their
lives and we shall live ours." For a moment the older
girl hesitated, pausing as she glanced back across the horizon
towards the glistening domes the settlers had begun to erect. She let
out a heavy sigh, retrieving her book from the dirt and dusting down
it's covers as she slid it into her belt. Then, without a word, she
followed her father and sister down the hill towards their own home.
As they reached the door, the Priest shot her a troubled look,
touching her gently on the cheek. "You are my blood
daughter and my heiress." He murmured. "Somehow I must make
you understand what that means...or this planet will be doomed."
"Tsunami, is this your doing?" She murmured, reaching up a fist to rub the sleep from her tired crimson eyes. "I thought you weren't going to do this to me any more. I thought we had an agreement - that you knew that this was my life and that you were going to follow my lead, not the other way around."
A chill wind whistled through the chamber, and Sasami shivered, clutching at her blankets as the mirror pool began to glint and glow with a strange ethereal light. Muttering under her breath, Sasami reluctantly slid her feet over the side of the bed, dropping silently to the floor and padding softly across to the water's edge, glancing down into its glittering depths. The reflection that stared back at her was not her own, but that of a woman of adult years, thick flowing hair bound back from her face in two long tails as she met her companion's gaze gravely. Sasami bit her lip.
"It is you, Tsunami." She said quietly. "What's going on? Why are you waking me with funny dreams again?"
"Tokimi." The word echoed in her head and the water of the pool swirled suddenly, morphing the woman's image into the visage of another. Sasami let out a gasp, her hand flying to her mouth as she registered the stranger.
"She was in my dream." She murmured. "But...but she was a child...and I don't understand. Why are you showing me this, Tsunami? I thought you were connected to the children of Jurai - but wherever that place was, it was old and remote. It wasn't Jurai and it doesn't make sense. What do you want me to know?"
She grimaced, frustrated.
"I wish you could tell me things more clearly." She added. "If we really are going to share memories and thoughts one day, we're going to have to find a better way to communicate than this."
The pictures in the mirror pool flickered and changed once more to show a planet and before Sasami's horrified eyes, storms and volcanoes ravaged the surface, tormenting and killing all the people in its path. Some cowered and begged for mercy, others ran screaming for their lives, but none escaped the growing wave of destruction and darkness that swept like a demon over the hills and valleys. In the background was the figure she had seen in her dream, but there was a dark madness in her blue eyes as she surveyed the blackening landscape, and Sasami shivered, longing to look away.
"Stop it." She whispered. "Tsunami, I don't want to see people die. Just explain to me what you want me to know!"
"She will come." Tsunami's voice was little more than a breath on the wind. "Beware, Sasami-chan."
"What do you mean, she will come?" Sasami looked frightened. "Tsunami, I need more information! What is this world? Who is this Tokimi woman? And why should I beware? What can she possibly want with me?"
"Not you. Me. Us."
Tsunami's features reformed in the glistening mirror pool, and the apparition reached out a hand, drawing Sasami to press her own fingers to the water's surface. A bolt of energy flickered between them, and Sasami jerked backwards, pictures flooding her mind as she fell to the floor. Faces and sounds mingled across her senses, confusing and disorientating her as she struggled to make sense of them. And then, as the melee began to clear, one image came through more strongly than any other, and she let out a shriek of alarm.
"Tenchi!" She exclaimed. "No!"
----
Almost as soon as the words had left Seiryo's lips, there was a tremendous series of explosions from behind the bar area of the club and as the Galaxy Police officers closed in through the thickening smoke, Tenchi struggled to regain his footing, wishing that he had thought to bring his sword with him to Osaka.
"At least then I'd have a way to defend myself." He muttered under his breath. "If only I knew how to switch on the Light Hawk Wings - but I don't. I don't know what triggered them against Kagato and I have no idea how to spark them off again now. This place is going to burn us all to a cinder, and I don't know how to get us out of it!"
Almost as soon as the thought had crossed his mind, he became aware of a huge surge of light, blazing out across the rapidly crumbling club and he glanced up, his heart in his throat as he realised where it was coming from. Throwing caution to the wind, Ryoko had lifted herself bodily into the air, her arms flung out at her sides as she threw up a forcefield around as many of the nearby people as she could reach. Her eyes glinted with a mixture of indignation and fury, and light flickered across her palms, soaring and surging into her familiar orange sabre.
"If you think I'm going to stand back and let you hurt Tenchi, you've got another thought coming." She hissed, her gaze trained on the angry Galaxy Police Agent as the energy that enveloped her grew stronger and more volatile with every second. "You'll have to get through me first, I told you that. And I'm not a pushover, Seiryo Tennan. If you know who I am then you know what I am capable of and you do not want me for an enemy."
"I have a job to do, and you're in my way." Seiryo growled, bringing his sabre down hard on the edge of Ryoko's forcefield, but she merely repelled his blow with a blast of blood-red energy, sending him staggering back and almost knocking him off his feet.
"Tenchi, some help would be nice!" Ryoko turned, casting Tenchi a glance, and Tenchi bit his lip.
"I'm trying! I don't know how without my sword!" He called back to her. "Ryoko, you can't fight all of them! Pull back...we have to get people out of here before the whole place goes up in flames!"
"I can't hold the forcefield up forever...not if I'm going to take this Tennan joker down." Consternation flickered across Ryoko's expression. "Get as many people out as you can - don't worry about me. I'll deal with the Galaxy Police...it won't be the first time!"
"Ryoko!"
"Just trust me! Do it!" Ryoko exclaimed. "Before people get hurt and I get the blame!"
"All right." Tenchi gritted his teeth, casting her one last glance before jumping up on one of the few tables still standing. "Everyone, follow me! Nothing will happen to you if you come now - quickly and quietly. We have to evacuate this place before the entrances are blocked! Follow me!"
Dazed and confused, at first the surrounding patrons did nothing but stare at him blankly, their gazes flitting in disbelief towards the still-hovering pirate as she parried another attack from Seiryo's powerful blade. Then, another explosion from the furthermost point of the club startled them out of their stupor, and with cries and screams they surged in the direction Tenchi had indicated, each pushing and shoving as they struggled to be the first one out into the night air. Seiryo's accompanying officers did their best to prevent the exodus but the force of stampeding people was too much and they were pushed back, their weapons trampled underfoot as they were forced to retreat.
"Help me!"
The feeble voice of a girl dragged Tenchi's attention away from the battle that was growing in intensity, and he scanned the smoke-filled venue for the source of the noise. There was the sound of feeble coughing, and then the plaintive call was repeated.
"Please...someone...help me!"
At first he saw nothing, but then, just as he turned to leave the club, he caught sight of a figure waving to him desperately through the thick haze. His own escape forgotten, Tenchi hurried to her side, realising as he did so that the girl was partly buried beneath a collapsed table and that she was having trouble getting up. Aware that her leg might well be broken, he heaved back the table-top, reaching for the stricken woman's hand. She gazed up at him with startled, grateful lilac eyes, and he offered her a smile.
"There, you're free." He told her, struggling not to choke on the smoke himself as the acrid fumes began to sting at his eyes. "Can you get up?"
"I...I don't know." The girl was on the verge of tears, and she gripped his arm tightly. "Please don't leave me here! I'm scared!"
"I won't leave you." Tenchi made up his mind. As a bolt of orange energy seared across the floor not far from where they stood, he gritted his teeth, knowing that Ryoko had dropped her forcefield in order to properly engage the invading officer in their fight, and that he would have no choice but to flee across an open battlefield if he was going to get the girl outside.
"I'm going to lift you." He said softly. "It might hurt...hurt a bit, but you'll feel better when you're outside...it's g...getting hard to breathe down there."
"I'm so scared." The girl buried her head in his shoulder as he slid his arms carefully around her, lifting her from the fallen debris and clutching her tightly to him as he scanned the club for the safest route of exit. She was light in his arms, and she clung on to him, sobs wracking her slight form as he made his way cautiously across the cluttered floor to a newly blasted hole in the wall of the building, stepping outside into the night air with a mixed sense of relief and anxiety. Setting the girl down gently on the ground, he stood, turning back towards the building which was now in full blaze, but his rescued waif reached out her hand, grabbing his tightly in her grip.
"Please don't leave me." She repeated, her voice no more than a whisper. Tenchi bit his lip, glancing at the club and then down at the pitiful form of the girl who sat huddled on the pavement before him. He sighed, taking in her soot-smudged features and tearful lilac eyes, and with a sense of regret, he obediently dropped back down at her side, slipping off his own slightly singed jacket and placing it gently around her shoulders.
"I won't." He said softly. "But help will be here soon. I can already hear sirens - that will be the fire department and they'll put it out. It will be all right - and a doctor will come and look at your leg."
"I...I think it's all right." The girl shook her head, glancing down at the bruising that was beginning to mottle her left leg. "It just...scared me. I hate fire...I always have."
She swallowed hard.
"My name is Yume." She added softly. "What's yours?"
"Tenchi." Tenchi smiled at her. "Tenchi Masaki."
"Thank you for saving my life, Tenchi." A tiny smile touched Yume's features. "What do you think happened in there? I think I must've passed out when the table hit me - I don't remember anything until the whole place was flames and I was trapped under the wood."
"I wish I knew the answer to that." Tenchi's expression became shadowed. "But you should probably not think too much about it. You're safe now...that's what matters."
"That girl...she could fly." Yume whispered, her grip on his hand tightening. "Did you ever see anything like it? Like she was some kind of guardian angel...sent to protect us!"
"Well, I don't know about that..." Tenchi began, but before he could finish his sentence, there was a final tremendous explosion from the nightclub as a large section of the roof blew off, sending a shower of debris down across the surrounding area and narrowly missing the scared gathering of escapees by a matter of metres. Yume flinched back, uttering a whimper of terror, but Tenchi was on his feet in a second, fear flickering in his dark brown eyes.
"Ryoko!" He exclaimed, taking a step or two towards the club.
"Tenchi? Where are you going?" Yume's fearful voice came from behind him, but he was oblivious to her call. Black, acrid smoke poured from the remains of the club and terror gripped his heart as he contemplated the pirate's chances of surviving such a blast.
"Ryoko..." He whispered, sinking down onto his knees.
For a moment there seemed to be a dull hush that pervaded the whole area, the flickering flames dying down as the inferno burned itself out. Then, as the distant sirens became ever louder, there was a surge of light from the wrecked shell of the building as something soared from the ruins, encased in a thick orange glow. Tenchi's heart leapt in his chest as he realised what it meant.
"Ryoko!" He exclaimed. "You're all right!"
The light seared across the ground towards him, scattering the nervy escapees once more as the pirate dropped down carefully on the grass. She drew a deep breath, shaking her head as if to clear it, and Tenchi hurried to take her hands in his as the bright light faded away.
"You're all right." He echoed, and Ryoko nodded her head, glancing down at her sooted clothing. She sighed.
"More than can be said for my outfit." She said resignedly. "That's the last time I make an effort on a night out, Tenchi-kun. It's just not worth the laundry bill."
"Seiryo?"
"Disappeared." Ryoko's eyes flickered with distaste. "Him and his ship, summoned away in the middle of the battle by...I don't know what by. He just flickered and vanished, like the whole lot had been teleported out of this space. Him, his crew...the lot of them. Leaving me to die in a burning building, which was very un-gentleman-like of him."
Tenchi hugged her tightly.
"I'm just glad you're all right." He said softly. "I'm sorry I wasn't more help. I don't know how to control these Wings yet...and then someone needed my help, and I couldn't just leave them to die."
"Did you get everyone out?" Ryoko asked. Tenchi shrugged.
"I think so." He agreed. "Thanks to your intervention, noone was badly hurt."
Ryoko sighed, and Tenchi saw a haunted look cross her face as she turned to survey the gaggle of cold, frightened club-goers.
"At what price?" She asked quietly, raising a hand to gesture towards the crowd. "The secret's out of the bag, Tenchi. So much for the normal Earth girl disguise."
Tenchi turned, seeing that the thirty or forty people who had remained behind had begun to gather around them, keeping their distance as they whispered and nudged among themselves, each staring at Ryoko with a mixture of fear and fascination. His heart sank as he recognised his college friends among the rest and he swallowed hard, reaching down to squeeze Ryoko's hand in his.
"You did what you had to do." He murmured. "And we're in this together, Ryoko-chan."
"No...not really." Ryoko smiled sadly. "I'm the one who flew and blasted that jerk. You didn't do anything...there's no reason for them to know about you or your Jurai roots. It's me who's created the distraction, Tenchi. Maybe it's not a good idea for me to be in Osaka after all. And now I've attacked a Galaxy Police officer, they'll be after my blood too. I think I just made things a whole lot more complicated."
"What...are you?" A hesitant voice came from the surrounding crowd at that moment and both Tenchi and Ryoko turned to see Hiroshi regarding them both with uncertainty. He took a hesitant step forward, eying Ryoko warily as he drew closer to the couple. "What...exactly just happened? How did you...?"
"Are you a witch?" Someone else in the crowd demanded.
"No, she's a demon! A demon come to destroy us!" Another exclaimed.
"That's crazy!" Tenchi's eyes opened wide at this. "Thanks to Ryoko, nobody was killed!"
"Whoever that man was, he knew her and he called her a criminal." Kane put in his observation. "Why was he looking for you, Tenchi? And what have you got yourself involved in?"
"I don't think she's safe..."
"I'm scared!"
"Maybe she is a demon! Or an alien!"
"Stop this! All of you!"
A fresh voice cut across the increasing hysteria and Tenchi turned in surprise, seeing Yume struggling to her feet from her position curled up on the ground. "Tenchi-san is right! This woman saved all of us! If she hadn't protected us and attacked that man, who knows what he would have done to us? I don't know who he is or what's happened here...I'm as scared as the rest of you. But I'm just glad to have left there with my life! If Ryoko-san is anything, she's a guardian angel sent to protect us! You should be grateful!"
"Yume?" Tenchi took a step towards her as she stumbled, and she gripped his arm, offering him a brave smile.
"I'm not afraid of you or your friend." She added softly. "And noone else should be, either. Ryoko-san is a hero. Wherever she came from, we should just be glad that she's here!"
Tenchi cast a glance at Ryoko, taking in the mixture of emotions that flickered across her expression. At length she shrugged her shoulders.
"It's all right." She said softly. "I know when I'm not wanted. I'm well used to that. Tenchi, I'm going home...I guess I'll see you there."
With that she dropped her gaze, her form flickering and blurring into nothing.
"Ryoko!" As a gasp went up from the surrounding crowd, Tenchi took a step forward, cursing under his breath.
"Where did she go?" Someone whispered. "How did she do that? Is it really demon magic?"
"Tenchi, you sure have weird taste in women, you know that?" That was Hiroshi, and for no apparent reason this casual attempt at humour seared anger through Tenchi's heart. He pushed his friend aside, fixing him with a hostile glare.
"If you knew how many times that woman has put her life and her reputation on the line to save me and to save people I care about, you wouldn't consider it even a little bit funny." He snapped. "If all of you are just going to gawp and stare, that's fine - but I'm following Ryoko's example. I'm going home."
With that he turned on his heel, making his way slowly along the pathway towards the block where his apartment building stood.
As he reached the corner, he heard someone call his name and he turned, his brows knitting in confusion as he registered the fact he had company.
"Yume." He said, surprised. "What are you doing here...why are you following me?"
"I didn't like how they were acting, back there." Yume limped along the pathway towards him. "You were so brave in there, and so was your friend. I think they were being harsh."
"Well, fear makes people do and say things." Tenchi sighed, glancing up at the sky. "But I'm glad someone doesn't think Ryoko's some kind of a demon. She isn't, Yume. She's one of the bravest people I know."
"Thanks to her, I have my life." Yume said softly. "You don't have to convince me. I believe you."
A faint smile touched Tenchi's lips.
"At least someone does." He said pensively. "And now I have to find her. Whatever the consequences, I'm not going to just abandon her when she's obviously shaken up."
Yume sighed.
"She's lucky she has you." She observed wistfully. "And you're lucky she's there to watch over you."
"Yes, maybe." Tenchi sighed. "But I should have been of more help tonight. I should have..."
"Done what?" Yume asked him softly. "Flown? Blown fire from your hands and cried war the way she did? Can you do those things too, Tenchi-san?"
Tenchi shook his head.
"No." He admitted. "But I could have done something. I feel like I let her down...and that man escaped."
"You saved my life, and helped evacuate countless others." Yume's eyes softened. "You came back for me, even though it was dangerous. I don't think you let anyone down tonight."
She offered him a smile.
"I'd like the chance to know you better." She added. "It's not often a dashing young man saves your life."
"Yume..." Tenchi began, and Yume let out a peal of amused laughter.
"I know." She agreed. "Tonight has been crazy from all perspectives. But I'd like us to be friends, anyway."
"I'd like that, too." Tenchi acknowledged. "After tonight, I don't know what's going to happen or how people are going to react when word spreads. But it's nice to know someone in this city isn't going to pass judgement without knowing all of the facts."
"Then it's a deal." Yume nodded, shaking his hand firmly. "We'll be friends."
She glanced up at the apartment building, a thoughtful look in her lilac eyes.
"This is where you live?" She asked softly. Tenchi nodded.
"During term time." He agreed. "Twelfth floor up. Hey, do you want to come in for a hot drink? You must be tired and you're still limping."
"You're very kind, but no." Yume shook her head. "I'm not far from my own home, and someone else needs you more tonight."
She smiled once more, touching his hand gently as she did so.
"But thank you again for your help, Tenchi-san." She whispered. "I know we'll be seeing a lot more of one another from now on."