Tenchi goes west ( The Movie )...
Author: Daferge
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"Tenchi Muyo!" and characters were created by Hiroki Hayashi and Masaki Kajishima, and is the property of AIC/Nippon Television, Geneon Entertainment and FUNimation Entertainment.
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Chapter...10...
( The open range... )
Tenchi and Ryoko had been riding down the ravine for a while before getting back up onto the higher ground...
They hadn't seen any Indians, but Ryoko was sure they had company the whole way...
Once back up on the upper ground Ryoko thought she saw a figure on the far side of the ravine, but didn't press it...
This whole trip felt weird, the very thought of renegades being so close should have her scared to death, but she wasn't...
In fact, she found herself quite calm, as if nothing could happen to them...
She suddenly found herself look at Tenchi, who was riding ahead of her...
She shook her head...
Get real!...
She heard a voice in the back of her head...
Out here in the wild west, you must pay attention to your surrounding at all times or you could easily get killed...
That had been one of the first things her other friend, Sakuya, Chief Seiryo's daughter had taught her after they first met...
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'Old man' Jurai and some others had been invited out to the local native village to mark his first meeting with the tribe and their help with his creating his ranch...
Ayeka had asked her to join them and Ryoko had agreed...
Sakuya and her had hit it right off, fists to the stomach...
Both were very wild spirits and after a few head-to-heads, they became fast friends...
Before the Kagato problem, Ryoko and Ayeka would ride out to the village for what Ayeka would called 'girls time'...
Sasami had been too young to join them, but Washu and Misaki weren't worried...
Yugi, Sakuya's mom would keep an eye on them, even some time even joining them...
It had been even longer since she had seen Sakuya than her seeing Ayeka...
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Well, at least she would soon be getting to see Ayeka and Sasami...
Closing her eyes she envisioned the large map in the sheriff's office...
A government survey team had come in just after the town was finished and with a military escort drawn a fairly detailed map of the area...
It was commissioned by Washington to locate and identify the local reservation, as well as to help plain for a Southern branch of the railroad to California...
One less effect by winter time...
Washu had used some old contacts back East to get a copy after it was printed and had it put up on the sheriff's office wall...
Since then, some more details had been penciled in as they became known...
Getting her bearings, she figured they were at-least an hour's ride or so from the ranch...
If she recalled the map right, the ravine marked the border of the Indian reservation and the Masaki/Jurai ranch...
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In fact many of the borders were natural features...
Other borders were marked with a couple of strands of barber wire...
The smaller ranchers were mostly marked on maps and perhaps some a line of post...
Fence posts were hard to come by and even one strand of wire was more than they could afford...
Kagato had used all this to acquire the land he wanted...
It didn't take much to move what markers there were...
All the small ranchers had been unable to challenge Kagato's land claims and had just sold out to him, usually for less than he had originally offered...
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( Other side of the ravine... )
A pair of eyes were watching...
Yanozha and his half brother Fun stood in the brush as the two white-eyes moved away...
His brother-in-law had ask that he follow and observe the strange white male who had shown no fear among them...
They had even exchange gifts...
Past experiences had given no reason for them to trust any white-eyes...
But Goyaale, whom most white-eyes called Geronimo, had sensed something and let him and his squaw go...
Yanozha saw much in the white squaw, a fire, almost a warrior's spirit...
As he watched he wondered who it was that lead and who was it that followed...
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After they left the meeting they had traveled a path that went around the troop of Buffalo soldiers near by...
But after a time they had stopped and talked...
It was here that he saw fire in the squaw's eyes and they had turned towards the troop...
When they got to the troopers, they had slowly entered, still not making note of those who were watching the camp...
The white-eyes leader seem to know the squaw and they joined him at his fire...
After some time they got up and parted ways...
He was sure that the young male had mentioned to the white-eyes leader that he was being watched, he saw that the scouts took note of them...
But they were only to react if soldiers moved too close, so they sat...
He had watched as the two white-eyes left the camp on the other side, towards the distant white-eyes homestead...
And as he watched, the soldiers prepared to move out, away from the tribe...
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He had then quickly and easily made his way around to the edge of the ravine...
It had been easy to find the pair again, they had taken their time, not being in a hurry...
It would seem the male had an idea about the armband he wore...
As they left the ravine, away from the local tribe's lands, they again made no note that they were there...
But something told him that both were well aware that they were being watched...
As they finally disappeared, Yanozha wondered if his brother-in-law had seen this in the young white-eyes?...
Turning his pony he had an idea that the buffalo soldiers would still be there, following them...
But they would not be getting as close again...
It appeared that this would not be they're day to die...
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( The sheriff's office... )
It was a tad crowded at the moment...
Not only was Kiyone there behind her desk, but Kagato with a couple of his men, as well as Washu and mayor Kuramitsu...
It seem that MISTER Kagato was concerned about the local Indians...
Word was that Geronimo was once again on the loose and was in this area...
Kagato was worried about their joining Geronimo to pillage and murder...
Mz. Washu was kind enough to point out that since Mr. Kagato had bought up the last small rancher, there was only the town and the two big ranches left...
This caused Kagato to narrow his eyebrows...
" I understand there were a number of rustled cattle at the village already... "
This raised some eye brows, both Washu's and Kiyone's...
Kagato had only a few cattle and he kept them better protected than the money in the bank...
That left Masaki-Jurai cattle, but the tribe was on too good terms with 'old man' Jurai to be stealing from him...
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Kiyone thought back to the monthly supplies from the government that had gone out the week before and she didn't recall any cattle going out with it...
If any were to be sent, It would be far cheaper to just obtain them locally than trying to move them cross a good distance...
Then she remembered some that had bothered her...
Two pairs of cows pulling each wagon, instead of oxen?...
She saw Washu's eyes brighten at the same conclusion...
Who would notice a few head of cattle being used to pull the supply wagon...
That was what she'd noticed, but couldn't put her finger on...
Kiyone could kick herself, she had been there to check and see that ALL the supplies got there and out to the tribe...
She wasn't looking for smuggled cattle...
And she was sure that there as no mention on the check list of the cattle...
And with every thing else, what was a little rustling...
By now, the 'gifts' would likely be processed and nothing but hides...
Hides with brands on them...
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Even the mayor had his eyes closed...
Kiyone was going to have to go out there and over see this...
Kagato would have some men with them, so she wanted some with her...
And she wanted Washu with then, the tribe respected her, "Fire-hair"...
" We'll go out first thing in the morning!... "
Kagato was about to make a comment, but thought better of it, for he had what he wanted...
No need to push his luck...
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After Kagato left, the mayor looked to the cell area, but didn't say any thing...
Kiyone smiled and shook her head, she'd be leaving Mihoshi in town, best for all involved...
A happy mayor left her and Washu to see who they could get...
Washu would know who they could and couldn't trusted...
Tomorrow would be very busy day...
But Washu would have to relay the bad news to Chief Seiryo...
A bit of reflected light would bring a young scout to a cactus outside of town and a message for the tribe, an emergency mail system she and Seiryo had worked out...
It would give him warning of their coming and prevent a confrontation...
At-least for a while...
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( A rise, far from town... )
Ryoko smiled as they topped the rise...
Even with the sun low, she could make out the Masaki/Jurai ranch below...
Ranch house, barn, sheds, bunk house and corral for livestock...
She still couldn't believe that once, ages ago, this had been a lake and the surroundings lush grass lands...
But both her mom and 'old man' Jurai both said it had been...
It would explain how he'd managed to create what he had...
Looking at Tenchi, she could see where the stubbornness came from...
Her eye brow went up as she saw him smile...
Looking at the ranch house, she noted that a figure had stepped out, onto the porch...
And they had a rifle in their hands...
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" Uncle Azusa!... "
Ryoko was confused as she didn't recall any one by that name...
Could that be 'old man' Jurai's real name?...
She couldn't remember ever hearing it before...
" Ryoko!... "
Turning her head she saw that he had both hands raised and away from his body...
Looking back at the ranch she could see that the figure was holding the rifle in a very special way...
It said ' show if you're friendly or not'...
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She saw Tenchi slowly moved his hand to his - belt buckle?...
And she watched as he made a number of movements with it...
" flashing Morse code... "
One of her eye brows went up...
" Asked how Misaki was?... "
Misaki was Ayeka and Sasami's mother!...
She saw that the figure was now waving for them to come down...
Tenchi smiles as he gestured downward...
" Shall we join them?... "
He then led the way...
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To be continued...
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Please feel free to comment and review for any errors...
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