Disclaimer: Although this is my own story, Tenchi Muyo is the creative and distributive property of Masaki Kajishima, AIC and Pioneer. I own absolutely nothing of the franchise, and write only out of respect for one of my fave animes. If anyone connected to the above reads this, I would much rather you hired me than sued me! ^_^

For anyone interested in offering reviews of this story, you can post your comments up at Fanfiction.net or send stuff to me at mccpcorn@hotmail.com

A QUICK RECAP:

Washu's latest scheme to extract a 'sample' from Tenchi has gone haywire thanks to a last minute intervention by Ryoko. The result has been everyone in the house having their personality transplanted into someone else's body:

Ryoko is now in Sasami's body. (Usually called Ryoko/Sasami in the story)

Sasami is in Kiyone's body. (Sasami/Kiyone)

Kiyone's stuck in Tenchi's body. (Kiyone/Tenchi)

Tenchi now occupies Mihoshe's body. (Tenchi/Mihoshe)

Mihoshe is in Ryoko's body. (Mihoshe/Ryoko)

Washu has swapped bodies with Ayeka. (Washu/Ayeka & Ayeka/Washu)

Noboyuki was - rather fortunately - out of town after driving Katsuhito to a conference, and Ryo-Ohki was out in the Carrot Field raiding the harvest.

The Story so Far: Tenchi searches for Ayeka and Ryoko as Washu works frantically to save them all. But as things get desperate, perhaps Ayeka is not as alone as she thinks...

Tenchi Muyo: Changing Faces
---------------------------

By Mccpcorn

Chapter 13: Awareness
=====================

As Tenchi hurtled through the forest he found that whatever Mihoshe's other failings - and she had many - she was a superb runner. She was fast, manoeuvrable, well balanced, and had great stamina. No matter how foul the terrain, Tenchi always seemed to put his/her feet in just the right place.

Up ahead, Kamadake tore through the undergrowth and obstacles like a battering ram, multicoloured beams of light radiating from his single eye as the Guardian scanned every frequency and measured every tiny clue to the whereabouts of Ayeka and Ryoko.

'Miiyaaa!'

Tenchi skidded to an ungraceful stop, almost landing backside-first in the muddy earth. Clearly Mihoshe was at her best on the move rather than standing still. 'Ryo-Ohki!?' he demanded in Mihoshe's high pitched voice, 'Is that you??'

It was. The little cabbit didn't look much better than Tenchi/Mihoshe did. Her fur was matted with water and mud and she shivered violently with the cold. Her eyes shook with pained emotion.

Tenchi knelt down and scooped Ryo-Ohki up into his hands. She looked about as miserable as Tenchi had ever seen her. 'What are you doing out here all alone?' he asked as he rubbed the little cabbit behind her ears. He stroked her fur, trying to get her circulation going again.

Ryo-Ohki's expression fell even further. 'Mi miya!! Meow mee miya mi!'

'Ryo-Ohki says that she jumped from Princess Sasami's head and followed Princess Ayeka when they became separated,' Kamadake translated helpfully.

Ryo-Ohki nodded vigorously. 'Miyaa mee meyaa!'

'What did she say?' Tenchi asked.

'She said Ayeka was running too fast for her to keep up,' Kamadake replied sadly. 'Ryo-Ohki has been following her trail but the poor conditions make it difficult.'

'Wait, back up,' Tenchi interrupted, looking very hard at Ryo-Ohki. 'You can TRACE Ayeka?'

Ryo-Ohki nodded again. 'Miyaa! Mi miyaa!'

'The trail is faint, but Ryo-Ohki can detect Mistress Washu's scent,' Kamadake continued to translate. 'If Ryo-Ohki wishes to interface with me I can use my enhanced sensors to magnify the trail and continue pursuit.'

The cabbit needed no urging. She leapt swiftly from Tenchi/Mihoshe's hands and up onto Kamadake. Ryo-Ohki then extended her front claws so that they gently sank into the Guardian's outer skin. Kamadake's single eye dimmed a moment as he adjusted to the finer points of the link-up. At the same time the jewel embedded in Ryo-Ohki's forehead glowed brightly.

After a moment, Kamadake's eye lit up again. 'We're ready,' the Guardian announced.

Tenchi/Mihoshe nodded, a look of grim satisfaction on his/her face. 'Then let's get going.'

* * *

The terrain up ahead had eased slightly, although Ayeka had slipped a few times in the mud. She seemed to be following a long disused path through the forest, though where it might lead she couldn't begin to guess.

It can't be a coincidence; it just CAN'T!

Ayeka had not seen the blue light - or figure, or whatever the hell it was - for some time. She reasoned it was because she was on the proper path; it never occurred to her that the marsh light may have just dissipated.

Ayeka slipped again, as much from exhaustion as anything else. She lay there momentarily, sprawled in the mud, fighting against the drowsiness and nausea that threatened to overcome her. She simply had to rest before she went any further, otherwise her lungs would explode.

She hauled herself to a kneeling position before slumping forward. Her hands, stretched out before her, went sinking into the mud as she fought breath. But with rest came stability, and gradually her strength began to return.

Ayeka took a moment to examine herself, or rather Washu's body. The scientist's stocking legs were caked with mud; the stockings themselves riddled with ladders and tears. Her shirt had not fared much better with the sleeves torn along the elbows and forearms. The Science Academy badge was dull and stained. Her hair was a mess, soaked with water and plastered with mud.

A fresh stab of pain lanced through Ayeka's head, as if someone were repeatedly jabbing an ice-pick into her ear. There was an itching, burning sensation inside her brain, and her vision sparked wildly. Ayeka's whole mind and body felt afire, as though one was being torn from the other.

My mind's shifting back, she realised. I'm being completely overcome. I've got to find Ryoko quickly, otherwise we're BOTH doomed!

How she was to find her way back with Ryoko was something Ayeka had yet to consider; finding the pirate was proving difficult enough. It was typical of Ryoko that once again she was never around when she was needed.

In any case, Ayeka no longer had a say in the matter. Whatever was driving her it had supplanted her own will.

So she started running again.

* * *

'All right! We hear you!' came the muffled response to Azaka's pleading. A moment later, Mihoshe in Ryoko's body and Kiyone in Tenchi's body were teleported through the rock of the shrine to meet the Guardian. 'Report,' Kiyone/Tenchi ordered.

'Mistress Washu is completing repairs to the machine,' Azaka replied. 'Sasami is assisting her. Ayeka became separated from the group in the search for Ryoko, but Tenchi and Kamadake are confident of finding her.'

'Where does Washu want us?' Kiyone asked.

'You are to report back to the house,' Azaka answered.

'Well come on then.' Kiyone paused as she noticed the Guardian's hesitation; she felt her - Tenchi's rather - face begin to warm. 'A question?' she asked.

'Um, no, not at all,' the Guardian replied, all too quickly. 'However I was considering the length of time you and Mistress Mihoshe were searching this area.'

Kiyone/Tenchi silenced Mihoshe/Ryoko with a single stare before the thought of saying anything could even enter her partner's mind. 'It's a labyrinth in there,' she explained, as casually as she could. 'So much to explore. We needed to... thoroughly search the - the area.'

Mihoshe/Ryoko tried to stifle a giggle. She failed. Azaka sweatdropped, and Kiyone gave Mihoshe an unfriendly look.

'Let's get out of here,' the detective growled.

* * *

Ryoko's mind pulsed as erratically as her pounding heart; her soul felt as though it was withering in flames.

Damn you, Tsunami! she thought to herself. Stay out of this! I have enough problems as it is!!

Patience, came the quiet, insistent voice.

'Don't WANT to be patient...' Ryoko/Sasami writhed slowly pain against the river bank. All she wanted to do was sleep...

No! the voice came again firmly. Do NOT sleep!

A fresh twinge of agony, either real or imaginary jolted Ryoko to a dull, unwanted awareness. 'Damn it, I'm sorry, Sasami,' Ryoko whispered softly.

As am I, the voice replied.

Far away, tears fell from Tsunami's cheeks. Sasami, dearest child, please forgive me...

* * *

Back at the lab, Washu suddenly fell to her hands and knees.

Sasami/Kiyone was at her side in seconds. 'Washu!?' she demanded.

'I - I'm all right,' Washu replied, although she was clearly not. Her brain felt as if it were draining away down a plug hole.

Not my brain, the scientist realised with distant alarm. My mind. It's shifting back to my own body, or being rejected by Ayeka's altogether. Washu struggled against the unconsciousness that threatened to overwhelm her.

Behind her closed eyes Washu's vision seemed dimmed, as if in a tangled fog. Images flashed through her mind: trees; a fierce cold. She felt as though she were falling; there was a tangled collection of branches, tearing at her arms and face. Her feet skidded in loose mud...

The scientist drew a sharp breath. Gods NO! Not NOW!! I'm needed here!!

'Get OUT of my mind!' Washu hissed coldly. She shook her head so violently Sasami worried it would fall off altogether. 'Washu - please!' she pleaded. 'What IS it?'

Washu/Ayeka dug her fingers painfully into the palms of her hand; gradually the images faded. 'Nothing I can't handle, for now anyway,' she replied grimly.

Setting her teeth and struggling to concentrate, Washu tried to work faster.

* * *

I can't go on! Ayeka moaned to herself. She had never felt so weak, but she dare not rest in case she could not rise again. She was no longer walking; her movements resembled more of a drunken stagger. Her breath wheezed painfully as the cold air bit into her lungs.

Ayeka inexplicably found her head full of strange thoughts and images. She felt a strange warmth; she even fancied she could hear Kiyone's voice, but she sounded so very far away...

All of a sudden, as if on cue to some summons, Ayeka's strength completely gave out. She collapsed, falling face down in a pool of muddy water. For a moment the only sign she was alive were the faint bubbles in the water as she struggled to breathe.

'Get OUT of my mind...'

The hissing, almost violent tone behind the words echoing through Ayeka's mind jolted the Crown Princess back to a full, startled awareness. Ayeka's whole body jerked, and her head thrashed in feeble alarm as she struggled to lift herself.

Ayeka just barely had the strength to haul her upper body clear of the ground before she retched, coughing violently as she spat mud and bile from her mouth. She turned away in mechanical disgust, moving on hands and knees like a wretched animal.

But even as she turned, Ayeka's hands slipped once more in the mud. For a moment it felt as though the ground had completely given way beneath her; she found herself tumbling wildly over her own feet through a tangle of leaves, roots and mud.

Ayeka dimly realised that she had rolled down a slope.

Fortunately much of the water had drained away through a multitude of small, creek-like troughs that ran close to the pathway she had been following - possibly drainage for the path above. Although sodden, the ground about her was drying out more rapidly.

This had left a number of stones and roots exposed. As she half fell, half stumbled, Ayeka found herself dragged to an abrupt halt as her foot caught in a protrusion of roots and stones. Her body spun left, and Ayeka winced as she felt her right ankle twist savagely, caught at a sharp angle in the knot of roots.

She pulled her bruised foot free and lashed out at the bushes with her left arm. Ayeka caught hold of a firmly buried stone and managed to bring herself to a full halt.

For a moment, Ayeka could do nothing except pant for breath, biting back the pain from her throbbing ankle. But as the initial shock subsided she regained her senses.

A quick scan of her surroundings told the princess she had been but moments from death; not three feet away the ground plunged away still further into yet another creek-bed. This one raged with the rainwater of the storm, it's current sluggish, but strong. With no grip or purchase against the muddy banks there was a good chance Ayeka would have drowned had she fallen in.

But even as the shocking clarity of that revelation hit home, Ayeka became aware of something. A faint, rasping sound, almost like breathing.

No. Not breathing. A whimpering.

It was the whimpering of a child.
END OF CHAPTER 13