Legal jargon: These characters don't belong to me, they belong to AIC and Pioneer. And
I'm not making a cent off of this either.
Authors Notes: I must say I've been thrilled with the response so far to my fic, thanks
and keep the reviews coming! Ok, enough of my babbling, on to the fic.
Among the stars
Chapter 2: Born to run
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Onboard the cabbit ship Ryo-ohki, Tenchi was gazing in wonder at the glorious blue Earth
as they sped away from it. He gazed at the delicate white clouds that graced the sphere,
the blue oceans that covered so much of it, and the various landforms that jutted from
the oceans floor, it was a sight he'd probably never get used to seeing in person. "Take
a good look Tenchi, it'll be awhile before we come back. Oh we're going to have fun on
this trip!" Ryoko exclaimed joyously.
Tenchi finally turned away from the viewing screen and looked at his companion for this
voyage, "So where exactly will we be going Ryoko?"
Her golden eyes twinkled with mischief as she spoke, "That's for me to know, and you to
find out."
For some reason the way she said that made him quite uneasy, "I see. Well, I think I'll
go unpack now." he quickly grabbed his suitcases and went to the nearest bedroom
door. Ryoko could barely contain herself from spinning around the room in happiness,
one of her dreams was finally coming to pass. Her and Tenchi, alone among the stars, no
need to worry about any other girls getting in the way, she could finally spend some
quality time with him.
In one of the bedrooms onboard, Tenchi was neatly putting away his clothes. The room
wasn't much to look at, fairly plain in appearance with grey walls and dark floor, but it
had a comfortable enough bed, and he had a great view of the stars as well. As he
looked outside the window that gnawing feeling of dread began to fade a bit.
Well, at least I won't be able to complain about my summer vacation being dull.
When he came back on the bridge, he spotted Ryoko sitting in the captains chair drinking
some tea. She turned around and smiled at him, "I made you a cup as well, come on over
here and sit with me." she patted a chair right next to hers.
He thanked her and sat down. She handed him a cup of tea and leaned back in her chair,
savoring the view of Earth. Tenchi was more than a little weary of her tea. He expected
some bubbling, oozing green sludge, but to his surprise it looked perfectly normal, he
took a sniff of it and found the aroma quite pleasant as well, now all he had to do was
taste it. He took a hesitant sip of the tea she made, and to his surprise found it fairly
good, while not as good as Sasami's, still pretty enjoyable. "Didn't think it'd be any good
did you?" she asked with a smirk on her face.
Tenchi let out a nervous chuckle as he tried to find a diplomatic answer to the question,
"Well...let's just say you're not exactly known for your cooking talent."
Ryoko crossed her arms and snorted, "I could be a master chef if I wanted, I just choose
not to." It took some effort for Tenchi to keep himself from rolling his eyes.
Ryoko spun her chair around to face Tenchi, "You know, this trip is going to be better
than I hoped for. Since the Jurai government gave me a pardon for all my crimes, we
won't have to worry about the Galaxy Police chasing after us. Although there are plenty
of individuals who are out to kill me." she finished in an offhand manner.
A large sweatdrop formed on Tenchi's head, "Um, just curious...exactly how many people
are out to kill you?" he asked in a nervous tone.
Ryoko put her hand to her chin and thought for a moment, "I dunno, I kinda lost track."
Tenchi became slightly pale after hearing that.
The two of them finished their tea in silence, each one lost in their own thoughts. Ryoko
was trying to think of something to do which would impress Tenchi, Tenchi was trying to
think up ways to avoid Ryoko if she started trying to seduce him.
Ryoko grew tired of the silence and decided to do something about it, "Let's see what's
on intergalactic T.V." She took ahold of one of Ryo-ohki's crystals and concentrated. A
moment later their window view was transformed into a giant television screen. As Ryoko
flipped through the channels, Tenchi was boggled by the sheer variety of different
networks. One network had some green skinned people with gills wearing tight shorts
and dancing to odd music, one had what looked to be some sort of live 24 hour spy
camera footage of someones house, and another had various fur covered people on a
stage beating eachother with chairs while an audience chanted what sounded like
someones name. Aliens sure watch some strange stuff.
Eventually they came across a show called, "The Jurai Enquiror" which Ryoko explained
was a tabloid show which dished out various gossip. "I don't want to watch some trashy
tabloid show Ryoko, change it." Tenchi said.
Ryoko shook her head, "No way Tenchi, I love this show. You should hear some of the
things they've said about Ayeka." She answered with a grin. Tenchi let out a defeated
sigh and sat back in his chair.
"Our top story today is the latest developments in Princess Ayeka's steamy love affair
with a native Earthling." Ayeka and Tenchi's faces were shown. Ryoko spit out her tea
and jumped up out of her chair, "WHAT KIND OF CRAP IS THIS?!"
"Latest reports say the two lovers are virtually inseperable, and there are rumors of the
two of them eloping." Ryoko's face was a mask of fury as sparks began to fly around her,
"THIS SHOW SUCKS!" she roared as she threw her chair at the screen and quickly
changed the channel. Tenchi silently prayed she wouldn't think the story true and turn
her fury on him.
Ryoko picked her chair up and placed it on the floor, trying her best to calm herself down.
Where the hell would they get a stupid story like that? she wondered.
***
Back on Earth
***
Washu was sitting in a chair in her lab, talking into some communications device, "Jurai
Enquiror? Yes I'd like to submit a story, and I'd like to remain anonymous. Well I was
visiting Earth on vacation recently and I saw Princess Ayeka and that Earth boy on a
nude beach together making out. Yes as a matter of fact I do have photos, I'll send them
to you as soon as I can. Thank you, goodbye." Washu began to maniacally laugh as she
put the finishing touches up on her fake Tenchi and Ayeka photos.
The door to her lab creaked open and Sasami peered in, "Little Washu? Lunch is ready."
Washu glanced over at a nearby clock, "I didn't think it was that late already, I'll be up in
a minute." she answered. She stood up and walked over to a nearby table. Ok, time to
see how my little shrine cleaning and crop harvesting inventions work. She put the two
device's on a sort of wheelbarrow and dragged it behind her.
Everyone was sitting at the table in the middle of lunch when Washu came out dragging
her inventions out. She stood in the kitchen for a moment as if waiting for someone to
notice her arrival, when nobody stopped eating, she angrily cleared her throat, "I'd like
your attention everyone. You should be glad to hear that you all are so privleged as to
be able to witness the unveiling of two new inventions of mine." she threw back a sheet
that was covering the two items, "I present to you, Little Washu's Shrine Cleaner 4000
and Little Washu's Field Worker 4000! These items are so advanced they'll do Tenchi's
chores more than twice as fast as he did them! So once again, I've proven my total
intellectual supremacy." she finished with a smug tone as her two chibi-Washu dolls
came out and praised her.
Everyone looked at eachother, blinked a few times, and resumed eating. Washu's eye
began to twitch, "Well don't I get some THANKS for what I did?" she asked annoyed.
Sasami smiled sweetly at her, "Your inventions are nice Washu, come have some lunch
with us, I've saved you some rice balls." Washu shook her head and mumbled something
about how "True brilliance is never appreciated."
Sasami became a bit downcast as she looked around the table. Without Tenchi, Ryoko,
and Kiyone around things were so quiet, too quiet. She missed the constant chatter,
even the occasional fights too, without them things just seemed so dull and lifeless. Her
pink eyes focused on her sister, and she watched Ayeka eat her lunch with a distant look
in her eyes. Sasami knew she was still focused on Tenchi and Ryoko.
Just as Sasami suspected, Ayeka was indeed thinking about those two. I do hope
Tenchi is well. Trouble seems to stick to Ryoko like a magnet, who knows what dangers
they may be facing right now! I'm being silly, I'm sure everything is just fine. Why right
now they're probably eating their lunch...of course Ryoko is probably sitting on his lap
trying to feed him, and I'm sure Tenchi is struggling, trying to get away...but Ryoko is
much stronger than he is, and she'll overpower him, drag him into her bedroom while he
pleads for release...and then she'll tear his clothes off and force herself upon him!
*SNAP!*
Sasami let out a sad sigh, "Ayeka, that's the third pair of chopsticks you've broken today."
Ayeka was red with embarassment as she felt everyone staring at her, "I'm sorry Sasami,
I guess I'm just a bit clumsy today."
After lunch, Washu decided to put her machines to the test. She lugged the robots
outside in the oppressive heat of the afternoon sun. She was hoping for an audience to
show off in front of, but almost everyone seemed to be busy, everyone but Mihoshi that
is. And much to Washu's chagrin, Mihoshi happened to stumble across her. "Hi there little
Washu, what are those things you have there?" she innocently inquired.
"Don't you remember Mihoshi? These are the machines designed to do Tenchi's chores
while he's away? I showed them to you during lunch which was only 15 minutes ago!"
she snapped in reply.
Mihoshi seemed to concentrate for a moment before giving up, "I'm sorry Washu, I guess
I wasn't paying attention."
Washu groaned loudly, slapping herself on the face, "Why do I even bother? You know
ever since Kiyone's been away you've been pretty out of it, not that you weren't out of it
before she left."
Mihoshi's shoulders sunk a bit, "You're right Washu, I just don't know what to do." she
moaned.
"Well, watching my inventions in action might cheer you up!" Washu chirped in reply. She
then turned around and summoned her holo-top computer, rapidly punching keys. Finally
pressing in the final sequence of keys she copped a cocky smirk. "Behold!" she shouted
while punching the final key, activating the robots. At first nothing seemed to happen, but
a moment later both machines lifted off the ground. The machines spoke at the same
time,n::Awaiting your orders little Washu:: Mihoshi clapped her hands a few times and
offered congratulations to Washu.
"Piece of cake for a genius like me, now to enter in some commands for them." Before
Washu hit any keys however, Mihoshi started talking to the robots, "Ok, umm, you with
the broom, go sweep the steps. And you with the plow go to the carrot fields ok?"
Washu rolled her eyes, "Mihoshi, those things aren't voice activated, they..." ::Orders
confirmed ma'am:: the robots spoke as they went off to their prospective tasks. Washu's
jaw was hanging open as she stared at Mihoshi who strode back towards the house as
if nothing happened. How did Mihoshi do that? I didn't install any voice recognition
software on them...or did I? I was putting them together with a blindfold on...
Back in the house, Sasami, Ayeka, and Mihoshi were sitting down to watch some
afternoon television. It broke Sasami's heart to see Mihoshi and Ayeka so downcast, and
she wracked her brain to think up some sort of solution. There HAS to be something I
can do to help those two, but what? I tried reassuring Ayeka last night that Tenchi
would come back and everything would be alright, but she still seems upset. Mihoshi
sometimes seems happy, but most of the time she seems really quiet and sad. They
need something to do, something to keep them busy. Maybe they should do something
together? Yeah, that way they'll be helping eachother out! Sasami almost jumped for
joy, for she loved helping people out.
Sasami tugged on the sleeve of Ayeka's kimono, "Hey Ayeka I got a really great idea!
You know how you've always said you wanted to build a nice garden? Well why don't
you do that? And you can take Mihoshi out to help you too."
Ayeka seemed a bit caught off gaurd by her suggestion, she blinked a few times and
mulled the idea over. "Well, I suppose I could do that. It would take my mind off...yes I
think I will start a garden, Mr Masaki has said I could build one right out front." her spirits
seemed a bit lifted as she finished.
"Yeah that sounds like fun Ayeka, let's do it!" Mihoshi exclaimed with enthusiasm.
Ayeka's spirits began to fade when she thought about the idea of Mihoshi "helping" her.
She knew just how unlucky Mihoshi could be. But then again she could use the help, and
the company as well. "Alright Mihoshi, let me change into something more suitable for
yard work."
***
Meanwhile onboard Ryo-ohki
***
Balance...
That was the one thing Tenchi was striving for at the moment. He was sitting
cross-legged on the floor in his bedroom with a ceramic vase balanced on top of his
head. He and Ryoko had agreed earlier that the bridge of Ryo-ohki just wasn't large
enough for sword practice, so Tenchi decided to focus more on some of the other training
excersizes his grandfather had taught him. At the moment he had been focused on
keeping perfect balance for almost an hour now, and he was starting to waver a bit in
his vigilence. He began to ponder how the others back home were doing, especially
Ayeka.
Elsewhere in the ship, Ryoko was preparing lunch for her and Tenchi. Granted, it was a
frozen lunch she just needed to heat up, but Ryoko was dedicated to making sure she
didn't screw it up. I sure won't be impressing Tenchi with this meal. She was
impatiently awaiting it to finish heating, as her stomach had been grumbling for some
time. Ah, finally! she quickly opened the stove and took out the two dishes, and to her
delight they seemed just the perfect temperature. She brought the meal out to the
bridge, where she had set up a table to eat.
She was about to knock on Tenchi's door to alert him that lunch was ready, but she
decided to be a bit sneaky instead. She quietly phased through the door to find Tenchi
sitting perfectly still with a vase on his head and his eyes closed. An evil grin formed on
her face as she silently flew to within inches of Tenchi's face.
Tenchi was doing his best to stay focused on his meditation when he began to smell a
strange but pleasant aroma, What is that smell...it smells like a perfume... Tenchi
opened his eyes only to see a grinning Ryoko right in front of his face.
Yelping, Tenchi stumbled backwords, the vase unceremoniously falling off his head.
Ryoko couldn't contain herself as she erupted into laughter. "Ryoko! What did you do
that for?" Tenchi's voice was laced with annoyance.
Ryoko was trying to stop laughing as she replied, "Well Tenchi, I'm supposed to be
helping you train remember? Now what would your grandfather say if he saw how easily
you lost your focus, hmm?"
Tenchi seemed to consider this for a moment, "He'd probably make me spend an extra
hour with the vase on my head."
Ryoko finally controlled her laughter as she leaned in towards Tenchi, "Well, I'm sure I
could think of an appropriate punishment for you my Tenchi." her eyes twinkled with
desire as she spoke.
Gulping, Tenchi tried to change the subject, "Say Ryoko, I'm pretty hungry, do you have
anything for lunch around here?"
Ryoko finally realized why she had come in his room in the first place, "Oh! I totally forgot
about that. I wanted to tell you I made lunch for us." When she saw Tenchi had a
slightly terrified look on his face, she rolled her eyes, "Don't worry Tenchi, I wasn't the
one who actually made it, it's a frozen lunch I just had to heat up." Tenchi seemed
relieved, "Oh, well in that case let's eat." he said with a smile.
Tenchi's optimism about lunch soon faded away once he got a good look at it. To say it
looked unappetizing was an understatement. The fish appeared dry and shrivled, the
vegetables were limp as noodles, and he didn't even want to think about what the
sauce might taste like. Ryoko merely shrugged her shoulders upon Tenchi's reaction,
"Hey it's not my fault it looks so bad. Who knows, maybe it tastes better than it looks."
Sadly, that theory didn't pan out.
"This fish is almost like rubber!" Tenchi dejectidly commented.
Ryoko chewed it for a bit with a contemplative look on her face, "I think we've been
spoiled too much by Sasami. Believe me, I've had alot worse than this."
Tenchi finally swallowed the piece of fish with a slightly nauseated look on his face,
"You've had worse than this?" he asked incredulously.
Before she could stop herself Ryoko responded, "Oh you think this is bad? Try eating out
of a dumpster, now THAT is bad." Ryoko mentally kicked herself for saying that.
Tenchi seemed perplexed as he thought for a moment, "When did you eat out of a..."
Ryoko quickly interrupted him, "It's not important...let's just drop it." she stated firmly
with a hint of anger in her voice.
Tenchi silently nodded his head and decided not to press the issue any further. An
awkward silence hung over the two as they ate their lunch. Tenchi stole short glances at
Ryoko, who seemed to have lost all her mirth and was gazing at her plate with a distant
look in her eyes. Tenchi opened his mouth to try and say something to diffuse this
growing tension, but came up with nothing. He tapped his chopstick on the crystal table
a few times out of nervousness.
Ryoko was mentally scolding herself for her earlier slip of the tounge. She had planned
on a lot of things for this trip, but opening up the darker secrets of her past wasn't one
of them. She looked up at Tenchi only to find him looking quite uncomfortable, and she
realized it was mainly due to her demeanor.
Resolving to break the palpable uneasiness, Ryoko quickly forced an attitude change,
"Don't worry Tenchi, we'll be eating at a lot of fancy restaurants, so don't get too used to
frozen meals."
Tenchi was relieved she seemed back to her old self, "So Ryoko, how exactly are we
going to pay for this trip?"
Ryoko gave him one of her famous grins, "Didn't you know that every good pirate always
buries a little of their treasure?" she asked slyly.
Tenchi seemed a bit surprised, "You mean you've got some money buried away out
here? I didn't think space pirates did that sort of thing."
"Well they do, Tenchi. And we should be picking up the money in about 2 days. I left it
stored on an uninhabited planetoid, and there's plenty of cash there." she quipped.
"I'm not sure I really like the idea of using stolen money. I mean what if we get in
trouble?" he asked worriedly.
She tried her best to reassure him, "Don't worry Tenchi, remember I was pardoned? And
besides, this money has been gone for years now, I don't think anybody will mind us
using it now."
"Well, I guess it's alright. I think I'm going to go relax with a nice hot bath now, I didn't
have a chance to get one this morning. Oh, and thanks for making lunch Ryoko. It might
not have been the tastiest food I've eaten but it's better than starving." Ryoko's eyes
lingered on Tenchi as he walked towards the bathroom, thoughts drifting to what
happened earlier. I'm going to need to be more careful if I want to avoid any more
slip-ups.
As Tenchi eased himself into the warm waters of the bath, he pondered what secrets
Ryoko might be hiding. You know it's funny, I've lived with her for so many months now,
but I really still hardly know anything about her. The only thing I really know about her
past is that she was a space pirate. What was her childhood like? Her family? She never
talks about any of that, and when someone tries to inquire about them she gets real
defensive. I guess it's really not my business. Her past is her own, and it's not my place
to try and snoop around. Tenchi let the soothing warmth of the water melt away the
tension of the day, and tried to forget about all his worries.
***
2 days later...
***
Tenchi let out a loud yawn as he opened his eyes to greet the new day. He enjoyed
having the chance to sleep in, though due to the lack of sunlight, he found himself
sleeping much later than he was used to. He pulled his pants on and pushed the button
which opened his bedroom door. He was a bit surprised to find Ryoko fully awake and
dressed, for usually she would always sleep later than anyone else.
She gave him a gentle smile when she saw him, "Morning sleepy head, there's some tea
on the stove for you and some breakfast in the oven. I'm going to head down to Altara 4
to pick up the cash for our trip. I'll be back in a bit, don't get too lonely while I'm gone."
she winked at him before phasing outside the craft.
Tenchi blinked a few times in surprise and rubbed his eyes, She sure seemed perky
today. It was then he realized he had been surprised alot lately by Ryoko's behavior.
When he first started this trip, he had expected to find himself being chased around the
ship by a nude Ryoko, but instead she seemed a little more calm, more cheerful. She still
would drape herself around him frequently and make the occasional suggestive remark,
but not as often as he had anticipated. Of course he had also been doing his best to
avoid prolonged close proximity to her. They didn't really have many conversations,
they'd have small talk frequently but nothing in-depth. He'd spend much of his time
reading or training. They did spend time together watching television, though the fact
she had sole control over the remote made the programming choices a little one sided.
He did get some time to watch a few shows which taught him some more about alien
culture. All in all he had to admit that this trip so far had actually been fairly good, and for
the first time, he actually began to have some optimism about this voyage.
Ryoko flew through the airless vaccum of space with ease as she swooped towards her
intended destination. So far so good. Seems every day Tenchi gets more and more
relaxed around me, I just gotta be patient, and it won't be long before finally... her
golden eyes glazed over as she fantasized about her and Tenchi together. She was so
preoccupied with dreaming of Tenchi she almost collided with the surface of Altara 4.
Getting her head out of the clouds she focused on the task at hand.
Quickly connecting her mind with Ryo'ohki she learned of the exact location of the vault.
She flew acorss the surface of the atmosphereless planetoid at a rapid pace. The terrain
was riddled with ancient craters, the surface was almost black in color, it was utterly
worthless really, no reason to try and colonize it. And that was the exact reason she
chose it as the hiding place for her loot. She homed in right where her vault should be,
and sure enough she saw the metal surface of it. Smiling she landed on top of it, and
quickly put in the combination numbers of the lock, Just like the old days... she mused.
Her smile was quickly wiped off her face when she opened it however, for the vault was
empty. Ryoko was in shock as she tried to digest this information. WHERE DID IT ALL
GO?! I rememeber I left a whole giant sack of money here after hitting that bank on
Ribald! And then I remember...taking it all out to pay off a gambling debt. she went
pale as she recalled what happened. How am I going to tell Tenchi? He was finally
starting to relax a little, and now I'm going to tell him we're broke? Then he'd probably
want to go back home. No, I can't tell him. But how am I going to get some money? I
guess I'll have to steal some, but I need to be able to do it without Tenchi finding out!
Realizing Tenchi was probably wondering what was taking her so long, Ryoko took off
back towards Ryo-ohki.
Back onboard Tenchi was just coming out of the bathroom when he saw Ryoko phase in,
"Hi Ryoko, you got the money?"
She jumped a foot in the air when she heard him speak, "What? Money? Yep, I got it all
right, hehe, nothing to worry about." Tenchi looked at her a bit puzzled, she seemed
pretty on edge.
"You ok Ryoko?" He asked in a concerned manner.
"M-me? I'm fine, never been better!" she stammered out.
Tenchi didn't say anything but still had an unsure look in his eye as he sat down in a
co-captains chair to begin his breakfast. He watched as she seemed highly anxious
about something. She paced back and forth on the bridge with a far off, worried look on
her face. He decided to just watch her for awhile to see if he could gain some clue
as to what was troubling her.
As the hours passed Ryoko still seemed worried about something, and Tenchi was
loosing his patience. Any time he'd ask what was wrong she'd merely brush him off,
show some phony bravado and claim everything was ok. Ryoko was almost sick with
worry, when suddenly Ryo'ohki mentally alerted her. What is it Ryo-ohki? Spaceships
in the sector? What! You're telling me there are ships of the Vhalid pirate guild in the
sector? How many craft you detect? 4 small escort craft and 1 cargo freighter? Wait a
second... Her eyes lit up as inspiration struck.
"Will you excuse me a moment Tenchi? I just need to check up on something..." she
mumbled as she hurried towards her bedroom. When she closed the door, she
immediately phased into her battle outfit. Tenchi doesn't want to steal from any banks,
but he never said anything about stealing from a pirate ship. It's not like I'll get in trouble
with the GP for doing this, so we won't be wanted criminals. But...we will be in trouble
with the Vhalid guild. she hated the thought of possibly putting Tenchi in any sort of
trouble, but she felt she had to do this.
She grabbed a large sack in her room and phased outside the ship. She knew that the
cargo ship would be fairly easy to break into, and the small escort craft wouldn't be able
to keep up with Ryo-ohki, so she was confident they could escape this coming battle. She
searched the outside of the craft for a moment, trying to deduce where they may keep
their stolen goods. Deciding to go with her instinct, she summoned her energy and
blasted a hole through the hull of the ship. Due to the vaccum now created, the materials
inside began to get sucked outside the craft. Ryoko burst into a huge grin when she saw
a large amount of money pouring out of the freighter. Finally my luck is changing. she
mused as she scooped up as much as she could and stuffed it into her sack.
She turned around and noticed the fighter escorts speeding towards her as they had
apparently found out what was going on. Thinking she had gotten enough cash, she
raced back towards Ryo-ohki.
On Ryo-ohki, Tenchi was sitting in a chair on the bridge reading a book about various
rituals of the ancient Japanese when suddenly he was thrown from his seat as the ship
shook violently. As he stood up he saw Ryoko phase in carrying a large sack with her.
"Ryo-ohki! Let's get out of here!" Ryoko yelled.
"Ryoko what's going on!" he shouted in confusion.
Before Ryoko could respond however, the viewing screen flickered for a moment and the
face of a large, bearded
man with dark green hair and blue eyes came on-screen.
"JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING! Trying to steal our haul?" he roared in a
rage.
"You don't mind if I help myself to some of it for awhile do you?" Ryoko's asked with an
arrogant smirk.
Tenchi looked back and forth between the two with utter confusion, "Ryoko! What's he
talking about?"
The bearded man was simmering with anger as he spoke, "You won't get away with this
Ryoko. The mark of Vhalid is upon you now, it's only a matter of time..." he then cut off
communications with Ryo-ohki.
Tenchi noticed Ryoko seemed a little perturbed by the mans words. "Ryoko, I think
you've got some explaining to do." he said bluntly.
Ryoko turned towards Tenchi and let out a nervous chuckle, "Well Tenchi, I sort of stole
a bunch of money from that guys ship."
"WHAT!" Tenchi screamed.
"Now hold on Tenchi. See that was a pirate ship, one of the Vhalid clans. They're the
most powerful pirate guild in the galaxy. I guess you're probably wondering why I stole
from them. Well, I sort of forgot to tell you earlier that the vault on Altara 4 was sort
of...empty." she said meekly.
Tenchi closed his eyes and shook his head, "I should have known. I knew you were
hiding something from me earlier, now I know. Ryoko why didn't you tell me about this?"
he asked with anger in his voice.
Ryoko looked down at the floor with shame, "Well Tenchi, I was afraid that if you found
out, that you'd want to go back home. I just wanted..." her saddened voice tapered off
as she spoke.
Upon seeing her obvious depressed and sorrowful state, Tenchi's anger began to
dissapate, "Those guys were pirates, so I guess they had it coming to them."
She looked up at Tenchi with hope gleaming in her eyes, "Does this mean..."
Tenchi stopped her before she finished, "It means that we've got a galaxy to explore.
And next time Ryoko...please consult me before putting our lives in danger ok?" he asked
a bit tiredly.
Ryoko nodded her head with a smile, "It's a deal."
Tenchi then remembered something he forgot to ask Ryoko, "Hey, what did that guy
mean when he said, 'The mark of Vhalid is upon you now.'?"
"Oh, that's just a death warrant on us. It means the entire Vhalid clan is out to kill us
now." she replied casually.
A wide eyed and dazed Tenchi slumped back into his chair, "Oh...I see."
End of Chapter 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, another chapter is done, I hope you folks like it! I got a ton of ideas bubbling in my
head for upcoming chapters, some humorous, and some dark, so stay tuned!
I'm not making a cent off of this either.
Authors Notes: I must say I've been thrilled with the response so far to my fic, thanks
and keep the reviews coming! Ok, enough of my babbling, on to the fic.
Among the stars
Chapter 2: Born to run
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Onboard the cabbit ship Ryo-ohki, Tenchi was gazing in wonder at the glorious blue Earth
as they sped away from it. He gazed at the delicate white clouds that graced the sphere,
the blue oceans that covered so much of it, and the various landforms that jutted from
the oceans floor, it was a sight he'd probably never get used to seeing in person. "Take
a good look Tenchi, it'll be awhile before we come back. Oh we're going to have fun on
this trip!" Ryoko exclaimed joyously.
Tenchi finally turned away from the viewing screen and looked at his companion for this
voyage, "So where exactly will we be going Ryoko?"
Her golden eyes twinkled with mischief as she spoke, "That's for me to know, and you to
find out."
For some reason the way she said that made him quite uneasy, "I see. Well, I think I'll
go unpack now." he quickly grabbed his suitcases and went to the nearest bedroom
door. Ryoko could barely contain herself from spinning around the room in happiness,
one of her dreams was finally coming to pass. Her and Tenchi, alone among the stars, no
need to worry about any other girls getting in the way, she could finally spend some
quality time with him.
In one of the bedrooms onboard, Tenchi was neatly putting away his clothes. The room
wasn't much to look at, fairly plain in appearance with grey walls and dark floor, but it
had a comfortable enough bed, and he had a great view of the stars as well. As he
looked outside the window that gnawing feeling of dread began to fade a bit.
Well, at least I won't be able to complain about my summer vacation being dull.
When he came back on the bridge, he spotted Ryoko sitting in the captains chair drinking
some tea. She turned around and smiled at him, "I made you a cup as well, come on over
here and sit with me." she patted a chair right next to hers.
He thanked her and sat down. She handed him a cup of tea and leaned back in her chair,
savoring the view of Earth. Tenchi was more than a little weary of her tea. He expected
some bubbling, oozing green sludge, but to his surprise it looked perfectly normal, he
took a sniff of it and found the aroma quite pleasant as well, now all he had to do was
taste it. He took a hesitant sip of the tea she made, and to his surprise found it fairly
good, while not as good as Sasami's, still pretty enjoyable. "Didn't think it'd be any good
did you?" she asked with a smirk on her face.
Tenchi let out a nervous chuckle as he tried to find a diplomatic answer to the question,
"Well...let's just say you're not exactly known for your cooking talent."
Ryoko crossed her arms and snorted, "I could be a master chef if I wanted, I just choose
not to." It took some effort for Tenchi to keep himself from rolling his eyes.
Ryoko spun her chair around to face Tenchi, "You know, this trip is going to be better
than I hoped for. Since the Jurai government gave me a pardon for all my crimes, we
won't have to worry about the Galaxy Police chasing after us. Although there are plenty
of individuals who are out to kill me." she finished in an offhand manner.
A large sweatdrop formed on Tenchi's head, "Um, just curious...exactly how many people
are out to kill you?" he asked in a nervous tone.
Ryoko put her hand to her chin and thought for a moment, "I dunno, I kinda lost track."
Tenchi became slightly pale after hearing that.
The two of them finished their tea in silence, each one lost in their own thoughts. Ryoko
was trying to think of something to do which would impress Tenchi, Tenchi was trying to
think up ways to avoid Ryoko if she started trying to seduce him.
Ryoko grew tired of the silence and decided to do something about it, "Let's see what's
on intergalactic T.V." She took ahold of one of Ryo-ohki's crystals and concentrated. A
moment later their window view was transformed into a giant television screen. As Ryoko
flipped through the channels, Tenchi was boggled by the sheer variety of different
networks. One network had some green skinned people with gills wearing tight shorts
and dancing to odd music, one had what looked to be some sort of live 24 hour spy
camera footage of someones house, and another had various fur covered people on a
stage beating eachother with chairs while an audience chanted what sounded like
someones name. Aliens sure watch some strange stuff.
Eventually they came across a show called, "The Jurai Enquiror" which Ryoko explained
was a tabloid show which dished out various gossip. "I don't want to watch some trashy
tabloid show Ryoko, change it." Tenchi said.
Ryoko shook her head, "No way Tenchi, I love this show. You should hear some of the
things they've said about Ayeka." She answered with a grin. Tenchi let out a defeated
sigh and sat back in his chair.
"Our top story today is the latest developments in Princess Ayeka's steamy love affair
with a native Earthling." Ayeka and Tenchi's faces were shown. Ryoko spit out her tea
and jumped up out of her chair, "WHAT KIND OF CRAP IS THIS?!"
"Latest reports say the two lovers are virtually inseperable, and there are rumors of the
two of them eloping." Ryoko's face was a mask of fury as sparks began to fly around her,
"THIS SHOW SUCKS!" she roared as she threw her chair at the screen and quickly
changed the channel. Tenchi silently prayed she wouldn't think the story true and turn
her fury on him.
Ryoko picked her chair up and placed it on the floor, trying her best to calm herself down.
Where the hell would they get a stupid story like that? she wondered.
***
Back on Earth
***
Washu was sitting in a chair in her lab, talking into some communications device, "Jurai
Enquiror? Yes I'd like to submit a story, and I'd like to remain anonymous. Well I was
visiting Earth on vacation recently and I saw Princess Ayeka and that Earth boy on a
nude beach together making out. Yes as a matter of fact I do have photos, I'll send them
to you as soon as I can. Thank you, goodbye." Washu began to maniacally laugh as she
put the finishing touches up on her fake Tenchi and Ayeka photos.
The door to her lab creaked open and Sasami peered in, "Little Washu? Lunch is ready."
Washu glanced over at a nearby clock, "I didn't think it was that late already, I'll be up in
a minute." she answered. She stood up and walked over to a nearby table. Ok, time to
see how my little shrine cleaning and crop harvesting inventions work. She put the two
device's on a sort of wheelbarrow and dragged it behind her.
Everyone was sitting at the table in the middle of lunch when Washu came out dragging
her inventions out. She stood in the kitchen for a moment as if waiting for someone to
notice her arrival, when nobody stopped eating, she angrily cleared her throat, "I'd like
your attention everyone. You should be glad to hear that you all are so privleged as to
be able to witness the unveiling of two new inventions of mine." she threw back a sheet
that was covering the two items, "I present to you, Little Washu's Shrine Cleaner 4000
and Little Washu's Field Worker 4000! These items are so advanced they'll do Tenchi's
chores more than twice as fast as he did them! So once again, I've proven my total
intellectual supremacy." she finished with a smug tone as her two chibi-Washu dolls
came out and praised her.
Everyone looked at eachother, blinked a few times, and resumed eating. Washu's eye
began to twitch, "Well don't I get some THANKS for what I did?" she asked annoyed.
Sasami smiled sweetly at her, "Your inventions are nice Washu, come have some lunch
with us, I've saved you some rice balls." Washu shook her head and mumbled something
about how "True brilliance is never appreciated."
Sasami became a bit downcast as she looked around the table. Without Tenchi, Ryoko,
and Kiyone around things were so quiet, too quiet. She missed the constant chatter,
even the occasional fights too, without them things just seemed so dull and lifeless. Her
pink eyes focused on her sister, and she watched Ayeka eat her lunch with a distant look
in her eyes. Sasami knew she was still focused on Tenchi and Ryoko.
Just as Sasami suspected, Ayeka was indeed thinking about those two. I do hope
Tenchi is well. Trouble seems to stick to Ryoko like a magnet, who knows what dangers
they may be facing right now! I'm being silly, I'm sure everything is just fine. Why right
now they're probably eating their lunch...of course Ryoko is probably sitting on his lap
trying to feed him, and I'm sure Tenchi is struggling, trying to get away...but Ryoko is
much stronger than he is, and she'll overpower him, drag him into her bedroom while he
pleads for release...and then she'll tear his clothes off and force herself upon him!
*SNAP!*
Sasami let out a sad sigh, "Ayeka, that's the third pair of chopsticks you've broken today."
Ayeka was red with embarassment as she felt everyone staring at her, "I'm sorry Sasami,
I guess I'm just a bit clumsy today."
After lunch, Washu decided to put her machines to the test. She lugged the robots
outside in the oppressive heat of the afternoon sun. She was hoping for an audience to
show off in front of, but almost everyone seemed to be busy, everyone but Mihoshi that
is. And much to Washu's chagrin, Mihoshi happened to stumble across her. "Hi there little
Washu, what are those things you have there?" she innocently inquired.
"Don't you remember Mihoshi? These are the machines designed to do Tenchi's chores
while he's away? I showed them to you during lunch which was only 15 minutes ago!"
she snapped in reply.
Mihoshi seemed to concentrate for a moment before giving up, "I'm sorry Washu, I guess
I wasn't paying attention."
Washu groaned loudly, slapping herself on the face, "Why do I even bother? You know
ever since Kiyone's been away you've been pretty out of it, not that you weren't out of it
before she left."
Mihoshi's shoulders sunk a bit, "You're right Washu, I just don't know what to do." she
moaned.
"Well, watching my inventions in action might cheer you up!" Washu chirped in reply. She
then turned around and summoned her holo-top computer, rapidly punching keys. Finally
pressing in the final sequence of keys she copped a cocky smirk. "Behold!" she shouted
while punching the final key, activating the robots. At first nothing seemed to happen, but
a moment later both machines lifted off the ground. The machines spoke at the same
time,n::Awaiting your orders little Washu:: Mihoshi clapped her hands a few times and
offered congratulations to Washu.
"Piece of cake for a genius like me, now to enter in some commands for them." Before
Washu hit any keys however, Mihoshi started talking to the robots, "Ok, umm, you with
the broom, go sweep the steps. And you with the plow go to the carrot fields ok?"
Washu rolled her eyes, "Mihoshi, those things aren't voice activated, they..." ::Orders
confirmed ma'am:: the robots spoke as they went off to their prospective tasks. Washu's
jaw was hanging open as she stared at Mihoshi who strode back towards the house as
if nothing happened. How did Mihoshi do that? I didn't install any voice recognition
software on them...or did I? I was putting them together with a blindfold on...
Back in the house, Sasami, Ayeka, and Mihoshi were sitting down to watch some
afternoon television. It broke Sasami's heart to see Mihoshi and Ayeka so downcast, and
she wracked her brain to think up some sort of solution. There HAS to be something I
can do to help those two, but what? I tried reassuring Ayeka last night that Tenchi
would come back and everything would be alright, but she still seems upset. Mihoshi
sometimes seems happy, but most of the time she seems really quiet and sad. They
need something to do, something to keep them busy. Maybe they should do something
together? Yeah, that way they'll be helping eachother out! Sasami almost jumped for
joy, for she loved helping people out.
Sasami tugged on the sleeve of Ayeka's kimono, "Hey Ayeka I got a really great idea!
You know how you've always said you wanted to build a nice garden? Well why don't
you do that? And you can take Mihoshi out to help you too."
Ayeka seemed a bit caught off gaurd by her suggestion, she blinked a few times and
mulled the idea over. "Well, I suppose I could do that. It would take my mind off...yes I
think I will start a garden, Mr Masaki has said I could build one right out front." her spirits
seemed a bit lifted as she finished.
"Yeah that sounds like fun Ayeka, let's do it!" Mihoshi exclaimed with enthusiasm.
Ayeka's spirits began to fade when she thought about the idea of Mihoshi "helping" her.
She knew just how unlucky Mihoshi could be. But then again she could use the help, and
the company as well. "Alright Mihoshi, let me change into something more suitable for
yard work."
***
Meanwhile onboard Ryo-ohki
***
Balance...
That was the one thing Tenchi was striving for at the moment. He was sitting
cross-legged on the floor in his bedroom with a ceramic vase balanced on top of his
head. He and Ryoko had agreed earlier that the bridge of Ryo-ohki just wasn't large
enough for sword practice, so Tenchi decided to focus more on some of the other training
excersizes his grandfather had taught him. At the moment he had been focused on
keeping perfect balance for almost an hour now, and he was starting to waver a bit in
his vigilence. He began to ponder how the others back home were doing, especially
Ayeka.
Elsewhere in the ship, Ryoko was preparing lunch for her and Tenchi. Granted, it was a
frozen lunch she just needed to heat up, but Ryoko was dedicated to making sure she
didn't screw it up. I sure won't be impressing Tenchi with this meal. She was
impatiently awaiting it to finish heating, as her stomach had been grumbling for some
time. Ah, finally! she quickly opened the stove and took out the two dishes, and to her
delight they seemed just the perfect temperature. She brought the meal out to the
bridge, where she had set up a table to eat.
She was about to knock on Tenchi's door to alert him that lunch was ready, but she
decided to be a bit sneaky instead. She quietly phased through the door to find Tenchi
sitting perfectly still with a vase on his head and his eyes closed. An evil grin formed on
her face as she silently flew to within inches of Tenchi's face.
Tenchi was doing his best to stay focused on his meditation when he began to smell a
strange but pleasant aroma, What is that smell...it smells like a perfume... Tenchi
opened his eyes only to see a grinning Ryoko right in front of his face.
Yelping, Tenchi stumbled backwords, the vase unceremoniously falling off his head.
Ryoko couldn't contain herself as she erupted into laughter. "Ryoko! What did you do
that for?" Tenchi's voice was laced with annoyance.
Ryoko was trying to stop laughing as she replied, "Well Tenchi, I'm supposed to be
helping you train remember? Now what would your grandfather say if he saw how easily
you lost your focus, hmm?"
Tenchi seemed to consider this for a moment, "He'd probably make me spend an extra
hour with the vase on my head."
Ryoko finally controlled her laughter as she leaned in towards Tenchi, "Well, I'm sure I
could think of an appropriate punishment for you my Tenchi." her eyes twinkled with
desire as she spoke.
Gulping, Tenchi tried to change the subject, "Say Ryoko, I'm pretty hungry, do you have
anything for lunch around here?"
Ryoko finally realized why she had come in his room in the first place, "Oh! I totally forgot
about that. I wanted to tell you I made lunch for us." When she saw Tenchi had a
slightly terrified look on his face, she rolled her eyes, "Don't worry Tenchi, I wasn't the
one who actually made it, it's a frozen lunch I just had to heat up." Tenchi seemed
relieved, "Oh, well in that case let's eat." he said with a smile.
Tenchi's optimism about lunch soon faded away once he got a good look at it. To say it
looked unappetizing was an understatement. The fish appeared dry and shrivled, the
vegetables were limp as noodles, and he didn't even want to think about what the
sauce might taste like. Ryoko merely shrugged her shoulders upon Tenchi's reaction,
"Hey it's not my fault it looks so bad. Who knows, maybe it tastes better than it looks."
Sadly, that theory didn't pan out.
"This fish is almost like rubber!" Tenchi dejectidly commented.
Ryoko chewed it for a bit with a contemplative look on her face, "I think we've been
spoiled too much by Sasami. Believe me, I've had alot worse than this."
Tenchi finally swallowed the piece of fish with a slightly nauseated look on his face,
"You've had worse than this?" he asked incredulously.
Before she could stop herself Ryoko responded, "Oh you think this is bad? Try eating out
of a dumpster, now THAT is bad." Ryoko mentally kicked herself for saying that.
Tenchi seemed perplexed as he thought for a moment, "When did you eat out of a..."
Ryoko quickly interrupted him, "It's not important...let's just drop it." she stated firmly
with a hint of anger in her voice.
Tenchi silently nodded his head and decided not to press the issue any further. An
awkward silence hung over the two as they ate their lunch. Tenchi stole short glances at
Ryoko, who seemed to have lost all her mirth and was gazing at her plate with a distant
look in her eyes. Tenchi opened his mouth to try and say something to diffuse this
growing tension, but came up with nothing. He tapped his chopstick on the crystal table
a few times out of nervousness.
Ryoko was mentally scolding herself for her earlier slip of the tounge. She had planned
on a lot of things for this trip, but opening up the darker secrets of her past wasn't one
of them. She looked up at Tenchi only to find him looking quite uncomfortable, and she
realized it was mainly due to her demeanor.
Resolving to break the palpable uneasiness, Ryoko quickly forced an attitude change,
"Don't worry Tenchi, we'll be eating at a lot of fancy restaurants, so don't get too used to
frozen meals."
Tenchi was relieved she seemed back to her old self, "So Ryoko, how exactly are we
going to pay for this trip?"
Ryoko gave him one of her famous grins, "Didn't you know that every good pirate always
buries a little of their treasure?" she asked slyly.
Tenchi seemed a bit surprised, "You mean you've got some money buried away out
here? I didn't think space pirates did that sort of thing."
"Well they do, Tenchi. And we should be picking up the money in about 2 days. I left it
stored on an uninhabited planetoid, and there's plenty of cash there." she quipped.
"I'm not sure I really like the idea of using stolen money. I mean what if we get in
trouble?" he asked worriedly.
She tried her best to reassure him, "Don't worry Tenchi, remember I was pardoned? And
besides, this money has been gone for years now, I don't think anybody will mind us
using it now."
"Well, I guess it's alright. I think I'm going to go relax with a nice hot bath now, I didn't
have a chance to get one this morning. Oh, and thanks for making lunch Ryoko. It might
not have been the tastiest food I've eaten but it's better than starving." Ryoko's eyes
lingered on Tenchi as he walked towards the bathroom, thoughts drifting to what
happened earlier. I'm going to need to be more careful if I want to avoid any more
slip-ups.
As Tenchi eased himself into the warm waters of the bath, he pondered what secrets
Ryoko might be hiding. You know it's funny, I've lived with her for so many months now,
but I really still hardly know anything about her. The only thing I really know about her
past is that she was a space pirate. What was her childhood like? Her family? She never
talks about any of that, and when someone tries to inquire about them she gets real
defensive. I guess it's really not my business. Her past is her own, and it's not my place
to try and snoop around. Tenchi let the soothing warmth of the water melt away the
tension of the day, and tried to forget about all his worries.
***
2 days later...
***
Tenchi let out a loud yawn as he opened his eyes to greet the new day. He enjoyed
having the chance to sleep in, though due to the lack of sunlight, he found himself
sleeping much later than he was used to. He pulled his pants on and pushed the button
which opened his bedroom door. He was a bit surprised to find Ryoko fully awake and
dressed, for usually she would always sleep later than anyone else.
She gave him a gentle smile when she saw him, "Morning sleepy head, there's some tea
on the stove for you and some breakfast in the oven. I'm going to head down to Altara 4
to pick up the cash for our trip. I'll be back in a bit, don't get too lonely while I'm gone."
she winked at him before phasing outside the craft.
Tenchi blinked a few times in surprise and rubbed his eyes, She sure seemed perky
today. It was then he realized he had been surprised alot lately by Ryoko's behavior.
When he first started this trip, he had expected to find himself being chased around the
ship by a nude Ryoko, but instead she seemed a little more calm, more cheerful. She still
would drape herself around him frequently and make the occasional suggestive remark,
but not as often as he had anticipated. Of course he had also been doing his best to
avoid prolonged close proximity to her. They didn't really have many conversations,
they'd have small talk frequently but nothing in-depth. He'd spend much of his time
reading or training. They did spend time together watching television, though the fact
she had sole control over the remote made the programming choices a little one sided.
He did get some time to watch a few shows which taught him some more about alien
culture. All in all he had to admit that this trip so far had actually been fairly good, and for
the first time, he actually began to have some optimism about this voyage.
Ryoko flew through the airless vaccum of space with ease as she swooped towards her
intended destination. So far so good. Seems every day Tenchi gets more and more
relaxed around me, I just gotta be patient, and it won't be long before finally... her
golden eyes glazed over as she fantasized about her and Tenchi together. She was so
preoccupied with dreaming of Tenchi she almost collided with the surface of Altara 4.
Getting her head out of the clouds she focused on the task at hand.
Quickly connecting her mind with Ryo'ohki she learned of the exact location of the vault.
She flew acorss the surface of the atmosphereless planetoid at a rapid pace. The terrain
was riddled with ancient craters, the surface was almost black in color, it was utterly
worthless really, no reason to try and colonize it. And that was the exact reason she
chose it as the hiding place for her loot. She homed in right where her vault should be,
and sure enough she saw the metal surface of it. Smiling she landed on top of it, and
quickly put in the combination numbers of the lock, Just like the old days... she mused.
Her smile was quickly wiped off her face when she opened it however, for the vault was
empty. Ryoko was in shock as she tried to digest this information. WHERE DID IT ALL
GO?! I rememeber I left a whole giant sack of money here after hitting that bank on
Ribald! And then I remember...taking it all out to pay off a gambling debt. she went
pale as she recalled what happened. How am I going to tell Tenchi? He was finally
starting to relax a little, and now I'm going to tell him we're broke? Then he'd probably
want to go back home. No, I can't tell him. But how am I going to get some money? I
guess I'll have to steal some, but I need to be able to do it without Tenchi finding out!
Realizing Tenchi was probably wondering what was taking her so long, Ryoko took off
back towards Ryo-ohki.
Back onboard Tenchi was just coming out of the bathroom when he saw Ryoko phase in,
"Hi Ryoko, you got the money?"
She jumped a foot in the air when she heard him speak, "What? Money? Yep, I got it all
right, hehe, nothing to worry about." Tenchi looked at her a bit puzzled, she seemed
pretty on edge.
"You ok Ryoko?" He asked in a concerned manner.
"M-me? I'm fine, never been better!" she stammered out.
Tenchi didn't say anything but still had an unsure look in his eye as he sat down in a
co-captains chair to begin his breakfast. He watched as she seemed highly anxious
about something. She paced back and forth on the bridge with a far off, worried look on
her face. He decided to just watch her for awhile to see if he could gain some clue
as to what was troubling her.
As the hours passed Ryoko still seemed worried about something, and Tenchi was
loosing his patience. Any time he'd ask what was wrong she'd merely brush him off,
show some phony bravado and claim everything was ok. Ryoko was almost sick with
worry, when suddenly Ryo'ohki mentally alerted her. What is it Ryo-ohki? Spaceships
in the sector? What! You're telling me there are ships of the Vhalid pirate guild in the
sector? How many craft you detect? 4 small escort craft and 1 cargo freighter? Wait a
second... Her eyes lit up as inspiration struck.
"Will you excuse me a moment Tenchi? I just need to check up on something..." she
mumbled as she hurried towards her bedroom. When she closed the door, she
immediately phased into her battle outfit. Tenchi doesn't want to steal from any banks,
but he never said anything about stealing from a pirate ship. It's not like I'll get in trouble
with the GP for doing this, so we won't be wanted criminals. But...we will be in trouble
with the Vhalid guild. she hated the thought of possibly putting Tenchi in any sort of
trouble, but she felt she had to do this.
She grabbed a large sack in her room and phased outside the ship. She knew that the
cargo ship would be fairly easy to break into, and the small escort craft wouldn't be able
to keep up with Ryo-ohki, so she was confident they could escape this coming battle. She
searched the outside of the craft for a moment, trying to deduce where they may keep
their stolen goods. Deciding to go with her instinct, she summoned her energy and
blasted a hole through the hull of the ship. Due to the vaccum now created, the materials
inside began to get sucked outside the craft. Ryoko burst into a huge grin when she saw
a large amount of money pouring out of the freighter. Finally my luck is changing. she
mused as she scooped up as much as she could and stuffed it into her sack.
She turned around and noticed the fighter escorts speeding towards her as they had
apparently found out what was going on. Thinking she had gotten enough cash, she
raced back towards Ryo-ohki.
On Ryo-ohki, Tenchi was sitting in a chair on the bridge reading a book about various
rituals of the ancient Japanese when suddenly he was thrown from his seat as the ship
shook violently. As he stood up he saw Ryoko phase in carrying a large sack with her.
"Ryo-ohki! Let's get out of here!" Ryoko yelled.
"Ryoko what's going on!" he shouted in confusion.
Before Ryoko could respond however, the viewing screen flickered for a moment and the
face of a large, bearded
man with dark green hair and blue eyes came on-screen.
"JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING! Trying to steal our haul?" he roared in a
rage.
"You don't mind if I help myself to some of it for awhile do you?" Ryoko's asked with an
arrogant smirk.
Tenchi looked back and forth between the two with utter confusion, "Ryoko! What's he
talking about?"
The bearded man was simmering with anger as he spoke, "You won't get away with this
Ryoko. The mark of Vhalid is upon you now, it's only a matter of time..." he then cut off
communications with Ryo-ohki.
Tenchi noticed Ryoko seemed a little perturbed by the mans words. "Ryoko, I think
you've got some explaining to do." he said bluntly.
Ryoko turned towards Tenchi and let out a nervous chuckle, "Well Tenchi, I sort of stole
a bunch of money from that guys ship."
"WHAT!" Tenchi screamed.
"Now hold on Tenchi. See that was a pirate ship, one of the Vhalid clans. They're the
most powerful pirate guild in the galaxy. I guess you're probably wondering why I stole
from them. Well, I sort of forgot to tell you earlier that the vault on Altara 4 was sort
of...empty." she said meekly.
Tenchi closed his eyes and shook his head, "I should have known. I knew you were
hiding something from me earlier, now I know. Ryoko why didn't you tell me about this?"
he asked with anger in his voice.
Ryoko looked down at the floor with shame, "Well Tenchi, I was afraid that if you found
out, that you'd want to go back home. I just wanted..." her saddened voice tapered off
as she spoke.
Upon seeing her obvious depressed and sorrowful state, Tenchi's anger began to
dissapate, "Those guys were pirates, so I guess they had it coming to them."
She looked up at Tenchi with hope gleaming in her eyes, "Does this mean..."
Tenchi stopped her before she finished, "It means that we've got a galaxy to explore.
And next time Ryoko...please consult me before putting our lives in danger ok?" he asked
a bit tiredly.
Ryoko nodded her head with a smile, "It's a deal."
Tenchi then remembered something he forgot to ask Ryoko, "Hey, what did that guy
mean when he said, 'The mark of Vhalid is upon you now.'?"
"Oh, that's just a death warrant on us. It means the entire Vhalid clan is out to kill us
now." she replied casually.
A wide eyed and dazed Tenchi slumped back into his chair, "Oh...I see."
End of Chapter 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, another chapter is done, I hope you folks like it! I got a ton of ideas bubbling in my
head for upcoming chapters, some humorous, and some dark, so stay tuned!