*Disclaimer* Alright, in the past two chapters, I have already made it painfully obvious that I don't own the Tenchi characters, but I guess this is necessary. I don't own them!
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Can this possibly be? How can that menace have returned? I thought for sure Tenchi had silenced him forever on that ship, so long ago. I don't want to believe this is true, but yet, the facts are here, I sense him. He is quite close actually...like he is.... TENCHI!!!
I dashed down the steps from my perch at the shrine, leaving it empty, as it was so many years before I took over. The wind whipped past me as I ran, blowing my robes behind me, causing them to billow out like a specter on the chase....nasty creatures those specters. I had fought more than one of them in my time, the majority summoned by the demon Ryoko, she was getting better about it though.
I neared the end of the first set of stairs, and turned my head to see the wind blow up top, knocking over the abandoned broom I had been cleaning with, and something else.....though I wasn't sure what it was. There was however, no time for deliberation, and I figured it wasn't anything of significant enough importance to turn back and check, so I merely I shrugged it off, and continued moving as fast as I possibly could, almost tripping more than a single time with my large strides down the steps.
My foot finally hit the walkway placed at the bottom of the seemingly endless reaches of stairs. I glanced around for a brief instant, trying to locate the source of the disturbance; the winds seemed to be howling unusually loudly tonight, setting an eerie tone to an what may have otherwise been a reasonably pleasant night. I sighed to think it ruined by the antics of a villain, who by all accounts should be dead at this moment, and began my dash again, in the direction of the house.
Too late, I thought silently, no emotions scarring my face to show how disturbed I really was by this sudden though of morbidity. By now, Kagato must already have him in his clutches. But I was wrong, I realized with a low sigh of relief, as a look to the side revealed a lone figure, standing just outside the window of the house, his cape fluttering in the midnight breeze, causing a low ruffling sound to echo through my ears. But something was amiss here.....he wasn't moving. He was just simply standing there as if deliberating his choice of actions.
In any case, I couldn't wait to find out, not if there was even the slightest chance he would hurt Tenchi. Perhaps it was just my fatherly instincts kicking in....yes, I actually thought of myself as the boy's father at times, and, though I know the position is filled by a most deserving individual, it calms my mind to know that someone can still use my help after so many years of aging.
With a quick dash at the impending figure, I unsheathed my blade, and swung it out in a momentary flash of steel. It was no longer the elderly piece I usually use, but a brilliant blade, made by Washu from a special alloy. Sure, it didn't have the traditional value of my old one, but it would serve me much better in a battle such as this one, especially when the key wasn't around.
I stopped in front of him, raising my blade in a challenge he would certainly accept. He had to; even though he was evil, he had too much pride to refuse it. The thought that I was placing my life on the line without even a second thought frightened me, quite honestly, though I tried my best to hide it. My real fear after all, was the wonder of what he would do to my Tenchi if I didn't stop him here and now.
He turned to me, spinning around quickly on his heel, ready to answer my challenge, as I could tell by the fire in his eyes. It seemed unnatural though, this smile of his, as if he were not truly Kagato, but merely a shell contorted and moved by the winds. And his eyes.......there was something different about them, something that had never shown before in all the encounters I had seen him. It was not the same evil that shown in those orbs the other times, no, it was somehow different; and, if possible, I believe it is safe to say, somehow more.....evil.. The look on his face was very distant aside from his eyes, and appeared somewhat artificial, like it had been merely glued on. He spoke to me in a low tone, lacking emotion of any kind.....except anger.
"Yosho....I should have known you would try to stop me," he said, his words echoing even before they came out of his throat, "and I cannot allow it. I shall have his head Yosho, do you hear me? I shall have your grandson's head! And I shall mount the boys lifeless skull on my trophy wall."
The details are a bit foggy to me, but I remember at this point he leaped at me, and I at him. We met each other in the middle, and, in a rage that couldn't have been matched by the eternal furies themselves we dueled, the sound of flashing steel, and the wavering sound of his own green blade ringing into the night, disturbing the birds in the trees. They flew off, in search of quieter grounds; it was funny really, the birds didn't care who won here, yet this simple battle could mean the difference between life and death for all of us.
I swung out my blade again, anger present in surplus on my face as it twisted and contorted, my eyebrows dropping low. I knew that fighting out of anger was a strategy for death, but couldn't help it, no matter how I tried.. The emotions I was feeling, didn't even seem to be my own, but rather, a random group of anger and hatred strung and woven into my conscience. I didn't know what to make of them really, but they were surely the work of Kagato; he must have discovered a new magic in death.......I decided to kill him for it.
He parried my blade with his own, and quickly swung his blade back at me to counter. It's bright green energy created a brilliant glow that cloaked the battle field, gleaming off the side of the house outside which we fought. The same house that contained the ones this battle was for. Ironic that those I was protecting didn't know they were even in danger, I thought to myself, another thought of Kagato's dangling head whipping at my mind.
I leapt, barely avoiding the perilous sharp. Another instant and I would have been dead. At that moment I decided I should have written a will. If this battle was my last, it would need to be done. Nothing good could come of this, only regrets. If I were to kill him, I would eternally have his blood on my soul, for he truly hadn't done anything to Tenchi yet, and had already been repaid for the last time he tried to harm us with death. On the other hand, if he were to kill me, I would be left with the undeniable fact that Tenchi would be left to the mercy of this evil being. It was a lose, lose situation....the first would be better to opt for.
I swung once again at him, and finally made contact. My blade sunk into the flesh of his shoulder with a sickening smack. My stomach churned slightly at sight of what I had just done. My spirit as a warrior was certainly not what is used to be. Age does that to one I suppose, and cant' be helped except by denial, and I wouldn't deny anything. I was no longer the warrior I once was.
I pulled the blade outward from his shoulder, the niche in it's perfection catching on his flesh and tearing it with a loud rip. He let out an agonizing shriek, and I noticed his face contort in pain as the muscle in his left shoulder was torn to ribbons by the withdrawing blade, and grinned. I was actually enjoying this, I painfully admitted to myself. That fact hurt me more than anything I could inflict on my opponent.
Kagato laughed. I pondered what could possibly be funny for a moment as his voice whipped down into the woods. Insanity. I decided it could be no other thing, but now that I realized he wasn't doing this out of pure cruel intention, I felt relatively bad for what I was about to do to him. I was about to kill a man who had no control over his actions.
I had hope even then however, as the thought that perhaps I would be blessed with some divine intervention crossed my mind. I was a priest after all, and, though I wasn't the most devout of followers, I still went through all the rituals, every day, every week, every month, every year. It was quite monotonous, but still I did them.
My god, apparently, heard my thoughts, and gave me a blessing, though it was in no way the one I was hoping for. At that point, I looked in the window, and saw Tenchi and the girls, exempt Washu, who was down in her lab, sitting in front of the television, watching some stupid cartoon about a man, who by strange chance, happened to have 5, very unique and important individuals somehow end up at his house. Shows these days were so unrealistic.
They appeared un-phased by our battle cries, as if they could not even hear them. The sounds of agony rang outside the house, and not a one of them was the wiser.
This is good I thought, for now they will not come out to help me, and lose their lives for nothing. Somehow, in the back of my mind, I knew I was going to lose this battle, and it was not my wish to have them witness my death. But it didn't at all seem to bad....death was inviting me to sit by him and wait for my turn to ascend to the Heavens. He lured me with promises of what was to come, telling me to just drop all and leave this existence, for paradise was waiting for me. My thoughts were interrupted by the mocking voice of the one I was in this war with.
"Is that the Best you can do Yosho?" He said with a sarcastic smirk. And, as if trying to prove some outside point, the wound I had inflicted upon him began to close, very quickly in fact, until nothing was left but the blood sliding off his arm, and then that was gone too, leaving nothing as a symbol of the wound I had just dealt him but memory. "If it is, I'm afraid you are going to die Yosho. I would have expected more of a challenge from you, but I suppose age has its effects on one, now doesn't it? Anyways, I think I'll enjoy this, so please feel free to scream in pain any time you wish during your destruction."
In the next instant he was upon me. I lacked sufficient time to even swing my blade at him before I felt the glowing beam pierce my gut. It's searing pain caused my eyes to wince, and a sudden dizziness to sweep over me like a wildfire, deteriorating my ability to defend myself. With a painful cry, I slashed at him with my steel, over and over, again and again, but to no avail, every time I would slash, his wound would close, and now his blade was emerging from my backside. It was too late......
The vision of that ascent renewed itself in my mind. Death was sitting there with a mocking smile, glaring up at me with sympathetic eyes. He knew my troubles, and was willing to end them, if I would only give in to the darkness that was consuming my vision. All I had to do was forfeit the struggle, and all he had promised me would be delivered. All I had to do.....was die.
The world began to spin faster as he withdrew the shimmering green weapon, causing a fountain of blood, MY blood, to come spurting out of the newly made wound. It was a fatal blow he dealt me, I knew.....He had won, and I had let Tenchi down. Again I dismissed the thoughts from my mind, they were not my own, but what should I care? Why were such morbid thoughts entering my mind, which I had worked so hard to clear? The mental note passed by unheard, reality had no truth to it anymore. The trees contorted, the ground jumped, even the wind itself had a unique embodiment to it. Even now, at my last moment, I had little control over my mind......perhaps I should just forget about it....he won after all.
I let myself drop to my knees, my sword falling haplessly to the ground, imbedding itself in the soft earthen soil. As my hands went limp, and my arms fell to my sides, dangling helplessly, I saw him smirk. The moan that escaped my lips was soft; I tried to hide my pain from my opponent, to remove some of the pleasure of my demise from his face, but to no avail. The sadistic smile on his face indicated he was enjoying every precious minute of this all, and nothing I could do was going to change that.
With my last breath, I apologized aloud for my failure to protect Tenchi, my lack of power to stop it all from happening like this...now Tenchi was on his own, and it was my fault. The last thing I saw before the world faded away in that haze of blackness was my grandson, Tenchi, laughing along with Ryoko and Ayeka at some joke. I smiled at this; they were going to be fine without me.... for a time.
My body hit the dirt. It no longer had any significance to it. Just a meaningless corpse on my grandson's front lawn. I sat there beside death, waiting for my turn to go to the Great Beyond. At least I can take solstice in the fact that my pains and troubles are over.
The reaper tells me it is quite lovely in Heaven........
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Can this possibly be? How can that menace have returned? I thought for sure Tenchi had silenced him forever on that ship, so long ago. I don't want to believe this is true, but yet, the facts are here, I sense him. He is quite close actually...like he is.... TENCHI!!!
I dashed down the steps from my perch at the shrine, leaving it empty, as it was so many years before I took over. The wind whipped past me as I ran, blowing my robes behind me, causing them to billow out like a specter on the chase....nasty creatures those specters. I had fought more than one of them in my time, the majority summoned by the demon Ryoko, she was getting better about it though.
I neared the end of the first set of stairs, and turned my head to see the wind blow up top, knocking over the abandoned broom I had been cleaning with, and something else.....though I wasn't sure what it was. There was however, no time for deliberation, and I figured it wasn't anything of significant enough importance to turn back and check, so I merely I shrugged it off, and continued moving as fast as I possibly could, almost tripping more than a single time with my large strides down the steps.
My foot finally hit the walkway placed at the bottom of the seemingly endless reaches of stairs. I glanced around for a brief instant, trying to locate the source of the disturbance; the winds seemed to be howling unusually loudly tonight, setting an eerie tone to an what may have otherwise been a reasonably pleasant night. I sighed to think it ruined by the antics of a villain, who by all accounts should be dead at this moment, and began my dash again, in the direction of the house.
Too late, I thought silently, no emotions scarring my face to show how disturbed I really was by this sudden though of morbidity. By now, Kagato must already have him in his clutches. But I was wrong, I realized with a low sigh of relief, as a look to the side revealed a lone figure, standing just outside the window of the house, his cape fluttering in the midnight breeze, causing a low ruffling sound to echo through my ears. But something was amiss here.....he wasn't moving. He was just simply standing there as if deliberating his choice of actions.
In any case, I couldn't wait to find out, not if there was even the slightest chance he would hurt Tenchi. Perhaps it was just my fatherly instincts kicking in....yes, I actually thought of myself as the boy's father at times, and, though I know the position is filled by a most deserving individual, it calms my mind to know that someone can still use my help after so many years of aging.
With a quick dash at the impending figure, I unsheathed my blade, and swung it out in a momentary flash of steel. It was no longer the elderly piece I usually use, but a brilliant blade, made by Washu from a special alloy. Sure, it didn't have the traditional value of my old one, but it would serve me much better in a battle such as this one, especially when the key wasn't around.
I stopped in front of him, raising my blade in a challenge he would certainly accept. He had to; even though he was evil, he had too much pride to refuse it. The thought that I was placing my life on the line without even a second thought frightened me, quite honestly, though I tried my best to hide it. My real fear after all, was the wonder of what he would do to my Tenchi if I didn't stop him here and now.
He turned to me, spinning around quickly on his heel, ready to answer my challenge, as I could tell by the fire in his eyes. It seemed unnatural though, this smile of his, as if he were not truly Kagato, but merely a shell contorted and moved by the winds. And his eyes.......there was something different about them, something that had never shown before in all the encounters I had seen him. It was not the same evil that shown in those orbs the other times, no, it was somehow different; and, if possible, I believe it is safe to say, somehow more.....evil.. The look on his face was very distant aside from his eyes, and appeared somewhat artificial, like it had been merely glued on. He spoke to me in a low tone, lacking emotion of any kind.....except anger.
"Yosho....I should have known you would try to stop me," he said, his words echoing even before they came out of his throat, "and I cannot allow it. I shall have his head Yosho, do you hear me? I shall have your grandson's head! And I shall mount the boys lifeless skull on my trophy wall."
The details are a bit foggy to me, but I remember at this point he leaped at me, and I at him. We met each other in the middle, and, in a rage that couldn't have been matched by the eternal furies themselves we dueled, the sound of flashing steel, and the wavering sound of his own green blade ringing into the night, disturbing the birds in the trees. They flew off, in search of quieter grounds; it was funny really, the birds didn't care who won here, yet this simple battle could mean the difference between life and death for all of us.
I swung out my blade again, anger present in surplus on my face as it twisted and contorted, my eyebrows dropping low. I knew that fighting out of anger was a strategy for death, but couldn't help it, no matter how I tried.. The emotions I was feeling, didn't even seem to be my own, but rather, a random group of anger and hatred strung and woven into my conscience. I didn't know what to make of them really, but they were surely the work of Kagato; he must have discovered a new magic in death.......I decided to kill him for it.
He parried my blade with his own, and quickly swung his blade back at me to counter. It's bright green energy created a brilliant glow that cloaked the battle field, gleaming off the side of the house outside which we fought. The same house that contained the ones this battle was for. Ironic that those I was protecting didn't know they were even in danger, I thought to myself, another thought of Kagato's dangling head whipping at my mind.
I leapt, barely avoiding the perilous sharp. Another instant and I would have been dead. At that moment I decided I should have written a will. If this battle was my last, it would need to be done. Nothing good could come of this, only regrets. If I were to kill him, I would eternally have his blood on my soul, for he truly hadn't done anything to Tenchi yet, and had already been repaid for the last time he tried to harm us with death. On the other hand, if he were to kill me, I would be left with the undeniable fact that Tenchi would be left to the mercy of this evil being. It was a lose, lose situation....the first would be better to opt for.
I swung once again at him, and finally made contact. My blade sunk into the flesh of his shoulder with a sickening smack. My stomach churned slightly at sight of what I had just done. My spirit as a warrior was certainly not what is used to be. Age does that to one I suppose, and cant' be helped except by denial, and I wouldn't deny anything. I was no longer the warrior I once was.
I pulled the blade outward from his shoulder, the niche in it's perfection catching on his flesh and tearing it with a loud rip. He let out an agonizing shriek, and I noticed his face contort in pain as the muscle in his left shoulder was torn to ribbons by the withdrawing blade, and grinned. I was actually enjoying this, I painfully admitted to myself. That fact hurt me more than anything I could inflict on my opponent.
Kagato laughed. I pondered what could possibly be funny for a moment as his voice whipped down into the woods. Insanity. I decided it could be no other thing, but now that I realized he wasn't doing this out of pure cruel intention, I felt relatively bad for what I was about to do to him. I was about to kill a man who had no control over his actions.
I had hope even then however, as the thought that perhaps I would be blessed with some divine intervention crossed my mind. I was a priest after all, and, though I wasn't the most devout of followers, I still went through all the rituals, every day, every week, every month, every year. It was quite monotonous, but still I did them.
My god, apparently, heard my thoughts, and gave me a blessing, though it was in no way the one I was hoping for. At that point, I looked in the window, and saw Tenchi and the girls, exempt Washu, who was down in her lab, sitting in front of the television, watching some stupid cartoon about a man, who by strange chance, happened to have 5, very unique and important individuals somehow end up at his house. Shows these days were so unrealistic.
They appeared un-phased by our battle cries, as if they could not even hear them. The sounds of agony rang outside the house, and not a one of them was the wiser.
This is good I thought, for now they will not come out to help me, and lose their lives for nothing. Somehow, in the back of my mind, I knew I was going to lose this battle, and it was not my wish to have them witness my death. But it didn't at all seem to bad....death was inviting me to sit by him and wait for my turn to ascend to the Heavens. He lured me with promises of what was to come, telling me to just drop all and leave this existence, for paradise was waiting for me. My thoughts were interrupted by the mocking voice of the one I was in this war with.
"Is that the Best you can do Yosho?" He said with a sarcastic smirk. And, as if trying to prove some outside point, the wound I had inflicted upon him began to close, very quickly in fact, until nothing was left but the blood sliding off his arm, and then that was gone too, leaving nothing as a symbol of the wound I had just dealt him but memory. "If it is, I'm afraid you are going to die Yosho. I would have expected more of a challenge from you, but I suppose age has its effects on one, now doesn't it? Anyways, I think I'll enjoy this, so please feel free to scream in pain any time you wish during your destruction."
In the next instant he was upon me. I lacked sufficient time to even swing my blade at him before I felt the glowing beam pierce my gut. It's searing pain caused my eyes to wince, and a sudden dizziness to sweep over me like a wildfire, deteriorating my ability to defend myself. With a painful cry, I slashed at him with my steel, over and over, again and again, but to no avail, every time I would slash, his wound would close, and now his blade was emerging from my backside. It was too late......
The vision of that ascent renewed itself in my mind. Death was sitting there with a mocking smile, glaring up at me with sympathetic eyes. He knew my troubles, and was willing to end them, if I would only give in to the darkness that was consuming my vision. All I had to do was forfeit the struggle, and all he had promised me would be delivered. All I had to do.....was die.
The world began to spin faster as he withdrew the shimmering green weapon, causing a fountain of blood, MY blood, to come spurting out of the newly made wound. It was a fatal blow he dealt me, I knew.....He had won, and I had let Tenchi down. Again I dismissed the thoughts from my mind, they were not my own, but what should I care? Why were such morbid thoughts entering my mind, which I had worked so hard to clear? The mental note passed by unheard, reality had no truth to it anymore. The trees contorted, the ground jumped, even the wind itself had a unique embodiment to it. Even now, at my last moment, I had little control over my mind......perhaps I should just forget about it....he won after all.
I let myself drop to my knees, my sword falling haplessly to the ground, imbedding itself in the soft earthen soil. As my hands went limp, and my arms fell to my sides, dangling helplessly, I saw him smirk. The moan that escaped my lips was soft; I tried to hide my pain from my opponent, to remove some of the pleasure of my demise from his face, but to no avail. The sadistic smile on his face indicated he was enjoying every precious minute of this all, and nothing I could do was going to change that.
With my last breath, I apologized aloud for my failure to protect Tenchi, my lack of power to stop it all from happening like this...now Tenchi was on his own, and it was my fault. The last thing I saw before the world faded away in that haze of blackness was my grandson, Tenchi, laughing along with Ryoko and Ayeka at some joke. I smiled at this; they were going to be fine without me.... for a time.
My body hit the dirt. It no longer had any significance to it. Just a meaningless corpse on my grandson's front lawn. I sat there beside death, waiting for my turn to go to the Great Beyond. At least I can take solstice in the fact that my pains and troubles are over.
The reaper tells me it is quite lovely in Heaven........