Tenchi Muyo! is the property of Pioneer
and AIC. I've no intention of using this to
garner profits of any kind or type, so unless
you like to take a poor man's computer away
from him, please don't sue me!? Please?
All other characters, depictions, places,
and theories that have been put into place are
my own creation and have no relevance to Tenchi
Muyo in any way except in the ways I've
explained. These are my own thoughts and
imagination, and any relation to other stories
that are not my own are accidental. Honest.
My e-mail is kerrigan2001@attbi.com for
any and all feedback. Please, PLEASE SEND
FEEDBACK OF ANY KIND!!! Thank you! ^-^
Author's note: This is where the action
actually starts, so I thought I'd warn all of
you battle junkies....
All right, enough talk....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Tenchi Muyo: The Web of Life~~~
Chapter 3:Bokkens and Reconnaissance(Rev.5.0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And that is all for your lessons for
today, Tenchi. And thank you, Ashe, for
joining us as well." Katsuhito spoke, bowing
to both of the young men, who returned the bow
in deep respect. Both young men took this free
moment to yawn audibly; it had been several
days since Ashe's rescue, and Tenchi wasn't
able to get a complete night's sleep
considering that Ayeka and Ryoko kept him out
on the town for most of the night on another of
their dates. Ashe, since Ryoko decided to move
back into her own room again, was forced to
sleep on the couch which was found to be not as
comfortable as he might have hoped. Both young
men turned to each other and began to walk from
the priest, who eyed the two as they left.
"Hey, Ashe, I heard that you finished the
rest of the carrot fields in record time.
That's some feat; I can't get half of them done
in a week, let alone two in an hour. I'm
impressed, for a newcomer." Tenchi noted,
giving a resolute nod of approval at the
wanderer and motioned him to follow to the
stairs that led down away from the training
area. The training area Ashe currently found
himself in was one of the few large meadows
that one might find on the shrine mountain, and
this particular meadows size was rare, indeed.
After giving the area a quick look around, Ashe
brought his attention to Tenchi and gave a
smile at his newfound friend.
"Not a problem, Tenchi. I appreciate the
hospitality with my unexpected arrival,
considering I can imagine what your family
seems to think of me. I've gotten the distinct
impression that unexpected visitors aren't
always welcome in this area of the world."
Ashe replied. Tenchi gave a surprised mental
step back, thinking that he'd given the wrong
impression from what he had said.
"Ah, I'm sorry about that. You see, when
someone drops in the way you did, you end up
catching the wrong side of people in this
family. It's not meant to be disrespectful,
just we've become rather cautious of things
that just pop up out of nowhere." Tenchi spoke
hurriedly. Ashe nodded in sad understanding,
and began to walk alongside Tenchi as they
neared the edge of the training area. A loud
cough was heard from behind both of them, and
both young men turned to face the priest.
"Ashe, if you would be so kind, I would
like to have a talk with you. We've not been
properly introduced except for this particular
morning, so if you'd be so kind, please." The
wanderer gave Katsuhito a joyful nod of
approval.
"I'd be honored, sir. I won't be able to
stay for very long unfortunately; I'm taking
the place of Tenchi for sweeping the temple
steps, so I'll have to be quick. Is that
alright?" Ashe replied.
Katsuhito gave the young Masaki boy a
raised eyebrow, to which Tenchi sighed and
dropped his head in response. Ashe felt
tension spring into the air and tried to
recover the earlier mood.
"I'm guessing that I've done something
wrong by taking over Tenchi's chores. I
apologize, sir, but I felt it was a fitting
payment for what he was willing to do when he
found me the night before last," Ashe
continued. Tenchi began to visibly become
uncomfortable as the priest looked Ashe over,
and then his grandson. Tenchi mentally planned
out what most likely was going to happen;
Grandpa would tell me that I'm attempting to
neglect my responsibilities again, and that a
guest shouldn't have to do such things while
staying at this house. But Ashe had demanded
that he take them; it was like he couldn't
stand the thought of letting someone walk away
from him without repaying what he thought was a
debt. It's kind of strange to think there's
someone like myself in the world.
"I will not mind you starting on the
temple steps later on in the day. However, I
would like to know of you, as you most likely
have stories I may find interesting." The
wanderer plastered on a sheepish grin, and
shook his head to deny it. The young Masaki
nearly jumped when he heard Katsuhito thank
Ashe for being willing to repay his debt to
Tenchi.
"They wouldn't be very interesting, sir.
I'm a wanderer, that's all; most of them would
be about my nearly getting killed or beaten
down by a horde of angry villagers. Ever since
I was born, I've always had the nagging feeling
that I don't belong; every place that I'd
travel to just seems to prove those theories
right. No offense." Ashe explained, motioning
his apology toward the two men that stood with
him in the field. Tenchi shrugged his
shoulders in understanding, and Katsuhito
nodded in agreement.
"Nonetheless, humor an old man, would
you?" The priest requested with a gleam in his
ancient eyes. Ashe dropped his own head in
defeat, realizing there was no way to get away
from this. Tenchi began to sit down,
interested to hear of Ashe's wanderings,
when Katsuhito cleared his throat a second time
and began speaking again. "Tenchi, your father
had made it clear to me that you have NOT been
keeping the storage area for our vegetables
sorted and clean. While your newfound friend
and I talk, you will begin on that immediately,
understood?" Tenchi stood back up quickly, and
bowed toward his grandfather.
"Hai, grandfather," Tenchi breathed, and
let a faint look of disappointment cross his
face as he took the steps down away from the
training grounds toward home. Ashe called out
to Tenchi as the young man traversed the
stairs.
"Don't worry, Tenchi! I've got a story
that you might find interesting; I'll tell it
to you at lunch, okay?" Both men heard an
half-enthusiastic voice jump up from the
stairs.
"Alright! I'll see you then," the voice
was heard saying. Ashe smiled, and turned back
toward Tenchi's grandfather. Katsuhito nodded
to Ashe and strode to the edge of the training
area and picked up two of the several bokkens
that had been in use during Tenchi's training
exercises. He held one up for himself and
handed the other to Ashe, handle out. Ashe
held up his own hands, and took a step back
away from the bokken.
"I'm sorry, sir. I'm not a warrior. I
apologize for this, but I'm not one for doing
battle of any kind." The wanderer explained, a
look of somberness clouding his face, and took
another step back. Katsuhito stepped in to
close the distance, still brandishing the
reversed bokken toward Ashe. The priest had a
deadpan seriousness hovering over his face as
he began to speak.
"I will be serious with you, Ashe. Where
my grandson was hesitant to explain, I will
continue. We have become wary with newcomers
from the stars. The family is concerned with
your sudden arrival at the house; Ryoko and
Ayeka are more so, though the words that you
speak have pointed to the opposite.
"However, I must know how you would fare
in battle as this home has been the target of
both dangerous and powerful enemies in the
past. If it is possible that you can fight,
you may be a great asset to us in our home's
protection while you are here. So please,
simply spar with me for but a moment," the
priest explained, and motioned the bokken
toward Ashe a third time. This time the
wanderer did not move away.
The wanderer lifted his arms and gingerly
took the smoothed handle of the outstretched
weapon into his hands. Letting Ashe become
more intimately acquainted with the wooden
blade, Katsuhito watched the wanderer's
expressions change from misunderstanding and
fear slowly fade into curiosity and fondness
for the weapon in his hands as he caressed and
held it. It's like he's found a forgotten
memory, the priest mentally noted, as he
watched Ashe begin to move and slide.
As Ashe became seemingly lost in the
motions of wielding the blade in various
positions the wanderer moved the blade, at one
point, with a speed that blurred the weapon
from sight. Stopping with a practiced halt,
the wanderer turned and faced Katsuhito from
his side of the training area roughly twenty
bokken lengths away. Ashe bowed his head low,
and held the blade horizontally out in front of
him.
"I guess I'm ready, sir." Ashe spoke
quietly, as if hoping that the words wouldn't
be heard.
"Alright, then, let us begin!" The
priest exclaimed, and took his position,
dropping himself into a fighting stance. Ashe
witnessed Katsuhito's motions and followed
through in a likewise, though less graceful
motion. Several seconds passed without anyone
or anything moving around or between the two
sparring partners. As the wanderer peered at
Katsuhito through slotted eyes, a single cherry
blossom drifted through the space between them.
Eyeing the blossom for just a moment, both men
watched the blossom slowly drift and spin
between them, and just as suddenly drop to the
ground. Each man growled a battle cry as they
charged; each man yelled in fury as the bokkens
closed in on each other for dominance, and each
man burned with the thrill of combat for the
first time in a long time as the two wooden
blades made contact.
KKEEEEEEEEEEEEE-RAK!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And after all of that, the singer just
hops onstage and yells into the microphone,
'C'mon! Just one more time, everybody, now!'"
Ashe blurted, laughing hysterically. Tenchi's
own eyes turned to saucers, and busted out
laughing as well. The two men sat on the pier
looking out toward the lake, watching the fish
jump for the insects that hovered over the
water and laughing about their own stories.
Ashe held chopsticks in one hand, eating
a bowl of ramen and talking while Tenchi
finished his own bowl as well. The two men had
changed out of their dirtied working clothes
and into something a little cleaner. Ashe
chose to wear a black athletic shirt, with
emerald green sweatpants, while Tenchi had
decided on a white long-sleeved shirt and navy-
blue sweatpants. As the laughter in the young
men subsided, Tenchi gave a delighted pat on
Ashe's shoulder for a second and smiled
faintly.
"You know, Ashe, it must seem kind of
strange to you, seeing people like us seemingly
conspire against a new guest like this. We're
just so used, I guess, to having so many people
stop in and try to destroy the house or take
someone hostage that we've forgotten that once
in a while somebody nice drops in. Thanks for
the breather." Tenchi spoke, taking his gaze
back out toward the lake in front of them.
Ashe gave a bewildered smile to the young man,
and nodded his thanks.
"I wouldn't blame you in all honesty, if
you had wanted to get rid of me or even attack
me on sight, though," the wanderer explained
between bites of ramen, looking out over the
water as the sun began edge itself away from
its noon-time position in the sky. "I'm
actually surprised that you took me in this
fast; most of the other places and planets I've
been to have been more content trying to find
out what color my blood was or how fast I ran
out of town, than if I was friendly enough to
talk to."
Tenchi took a free moment to stare at the
wanderer; the young white-haired man had closed
his eyes tightly, as if he were trying to block
out some painful memories that fought to break
the surface. Tenchi looked back toward the
lake, thinking of a way to lighten the mood
that seemed to poison their current
conversation. Both men jumped when they heard
Katsuhito's voice from behind. Ashe turned to
see the priest standing at the main dock of the
house, watching the young men with a raised
eyebrow.
"Tenchi, Ashe, it is nearing time for
lunch," the priest stated, and looked out over
the horizon. Dark, thick clouds began to creep
over the sky, and the lukewarm breeze that
hovered around the men was becoming slightly
chilled. "Your chores for the day will be
suspended due to the rain, for both of you.
However, when it passes I'll expect you both to
finish as soon as it will be possible,
understood?" The young men both nodded in
agreement, and stood up to walk down the pier
toward the house. Katsuhito stood quietly as
Ayeka passed both men as they made their way
into the house. The princess's head was
drooped, and her hands were tucked into the
sleeves of her silver and navy blue kimono; her
navy blue cloak barely covered her shoulders.
Deep in thought, Ayeka began to walk toward the
temple steps, never realizing until far too
late that she ran straight into Katsuhito.
"Oof! What's wrong, Ayeka?" The priest
questioned, cocking his head to the side and
looking Ayeka over with a concerned stare. She
hurriedly brushed herself off, and gave a small
glance to Katsuhito, shaking her head slowly.
"Nothing, nothing is wrong, brother. I
simply have decided to sit alone and think
about several things would be all. Thank you
for your concern, however, and please tell
Tenchi and Sasami not to worry about me; I will
return in time for our midday meal." Ayeka
replied, her words half whispered. The priest
gave her another worried look, and stepped to
the side.
"Alright then, sister, I will let them
know. Remember that if you do need to talk to
someone, we're not far away," the priest
explained with an understanding smile. Ayeka
gave a faint nod and briskly made her way to
and up the temple steps toward her chosen
destination, while Katsuhito swiftly made his
way inside. After several more minutes the
princess stood in front of her chosen place of
meditation; the cave that Ryoko had been
imprisoned in. She settled down in front of
the entrance and looked to the clouds that had
finished creeping over the sky above to block
out the most of the light available. Several
drops of water had begun to fall to earth; the
clouds parted at slight and random intervals to
allow shard-like beams of light to shine
through.
Bowing her head slightly Ayeka sat on the
steps of the shrine, silently agreeing with the
storm as thunder rolled through like angels on
a warpath. As she listened to the thunder
blare out and lightning carve niches into the
clouds that created them, Ayeka began to talk
aloud her more intimate thoughts.
"What is it that I haven't done, Tenchi?
I've tried nearly everything that a decent
woman would attempt, and considered ideas that
others wouldn't dare. I just cannot understand
what it is about you that I can't seem to win
over," she whispered to herself. Even though
she'd been able to spend a much larger amount
of time with Tenchi since Ashe's arrival, she
still felt she was losing ground to Ryoko in
their little duel.
The rain began to fall harder onto the
ground just outside of Ayeka's position at the
cave; reaching out with her hands, the princess
captured a small cupful of rainwater and let it
drip and slide down her arms. Letting the
purifying feeling of the water comfort her as
it slithered down, Ayeka tilted her head back
and closed her eyes. Letting the rain kiss her
face and slip past her lips, the princess
allowed herself a faint smile as she ran her
slender fingers through her hair as she
caressed her headband key. Carefully pulling
the headband away from her head, she pushed her
bangs aside to wipe her forehead, stopping her
fingers on the marking she felt; a singular
crescent moon, creating a haphazard 'V' shape.
The markings reminded her of her current
position in life, and she began to think of her
future status as queen and ruler of Jurai. She
sighed heavily, and dropped her hands onto her
knees.
"I hope you can return my love someday,
Tenchi, because I do not know if I can wait
forever." She kept her eyes closed as she
stared at the sky, thinking about her current
situation. Although Ayeka wouldn't admit to it
openly, she envied Ryoko; her lewd, yet open
attitude toward Tenchi and the others was
something that Ayeka couldn't dare display.
Yet, at the same time, that same attitude was
something that she craved to have. To be able
to express her feelings about everything
simply, truthfully, without fear of resentment
or rejection was what Ayeka was striving to
have as part of her. She silently hoped that
by overcoming her royal station and being
simply Ayeka, she could close the gap between
the two girls and finally be able to reach out
to Tenchi without any fears. And, Ayeka hoped,
without rejection.
It was those same thoughts,
unfortunately, that kept the princess from
realizing a tall black and white haired woman
clothed in a black, sliver-striped body suit
phase into being directly behind her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dropping down from above onto the Masaki
residence the rain beat on the windows and roof
with focused measure, doing nothing but adding
to the tension existing inside. Tenchi sat in
a chair that faced the pier and outer porch
area, looking out toward the temple steps.
Ryoko, Mihoshi, and the others were watching an
animated television program while they waited
for lunch to finish being prepared. The pirate
gave Tenchi a forlorn face as the young Masaki
waited for Ayeka's return.
"C'mon, Tenchi, you're missing your
favorite show," Ryoko spoke, patting the open
space next to her on the couch, "And you know
Ayeka will be fine; she's a big girl, you
know." Tenchi turned to look at Ryoko and gave
a sweet smile, which warmed up the pirate a
visible amount.
"I know, but I still worry about her."
Tenchi explained, drooping his head slightly in
self-worry. Tenchi put his eyes back on the
window that he stared out earlier, which didn't
allow him to see Ryoko wince visibly. "I'd do
the same for you if you'd ever ask for time
alone, so please don't be hurt if I do this for
Ayeka, too." Ryoko gasped mentally, and
teleported off of the couch over toward
Tenchi's place on his chair. Wrapping her arms
around Tenchi's neck, Ryoko rested her head on
his right shoulder and sighed into his ear;
Tenchi tensed up as usual, but didn't take his
eyes off of the temple steps that Ayeka would
appear from.
"That means a lot, Tenchi. Thank you."
Ryoko whispered to Tenchi, nuzzling his ear as
she spoke. That got a reaction out of Tenchi,
whose eyes shot open wide.
"I'm happy that I made you feel better,
Ryoko." Tenchi rushed out of his mouth, now
torn between doing something about the intense
affection from Ryoko and waiting patiently for
Ayeka's return. While the pirate began trying
to get Tenchi to look at her long enough to
kiss, Sasami had entered the room carrying a
pot of steaming food. Setting it down in the
middle of the table, the younger princess
looked around and put up a worried face.
"Where's Ayeka?" Sasami wondered aloud,
which brought Tenchi's attention away from
Ryoko's blatant innuendo.
"She still hasn't come back from her time
alone. She said she'd be back in time for
lunch. I'll go get her." Tenchi said,
standing up quickly. Ryoko's grip on Tenchi
didn't lessen in the slightest, and she was
quickly dragged upwards and over the back of
the chair. Ryoko took a free moment to eye her
current position, and leveled her gaze at the
back of the young Masaki's head.
"Either you're getting stronger, or I'm
losing my touch," Ryoko muttered out loud,
which brought a smothered laugh from Washu on
the couch where she sat working on research.
"No comments from the peanut gallery, either."
Ryoko shot to the girl genius, as she let the
young Masaki go toward the closet to get his
rain coat. Blinking twice, Tenchi then grabbed
a long navy-blue rain coat hanging in the now
normal closet and quickly donned it. Making
his way back toward the door out, he gave a
quick smile to Ryoko and the others.
"I'll be right back; I'm just going to
bring Ayeka back to the house for lunch.
Ryoko, if you could please," Tenchi asked,
giving a more serious look to the pirate, "Just
stay here while I go and get Ayeka?" Ryoko
huffed and stubbornly looked out the window
toward the rain.
"Fine, whatever you want," she vented,
trying in vain to conceal the hurt that edged
itself through her voice. Tenchi tossed the
hood over his head, and after looking back at
the pirate for several seconds in quiet
thought, stepped out into the rain. Slowly and
carefully making his way up the steps, Tenchi
called out to Ayeka several times as he made
his rounds about the residence. When he got no
response, Tenchi stopped at the apex of the
temple steps and began thinking aloud.
"If I was someone who wanted time alone
from the others, where would I go?" Tenchi
wondered, looking about the temple grounds.
His thoughts stopped rather quickly, when
Tenchi thought about who Ayeka would want to be
alone from. Not wasting any time, the young
Masaki bolted toward and up the path that led
to the cave shrine. Reaching the area
surrounding the cave, Tenchi gave an audible
gasp; kneeling down on the rain-soaked ground
was an obviously muddy and dirty Ayeka; her
kimono and robes covered in mud, barely
recognizable. The princess's head was covered
by her cloak hood, so Tenchi couldn't tell
exactly if Ayeka was conscious or even alive;
her kimono was so covered in mud and rain that
the colors more closely resembled a deep brown
and grey than navy blue and silver. The young
Masaki rushed up to Ayeka's side and quickly
looked her over.
"Ayeka, what happened to you? Are you
awake? Can you hear me?!" Tenchi blurted out,
looking over the elder princess's form with
quickened worry. Ayeka groaned and began to
push Tenchi away from her.
"I'll be fine, Lord Tenchi, just provide
me a moment to stand." She made an attempt to
right herself on her own, but fell backwards
into Tenchi's arms as she faltered. Ayeka
blushed a great deal when she realized that
Tenchi was looking down at her from her rather
odd position, and hurriedly closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to fall into
you like that!" Ayeka blurted aloud, trying to
stand herself upright yet again. Tenchi shook
his head in silent laughter, and gave the
princess a helping hand with a firm yet tender
grip on her forearms. "I slipped and fell into
the mud, and I just couldn't get a firm enough
hold on the ground to stand again. I feel so
helpless…" she continued, her voice choking
with embarrassment and self-resentment.
Tenchi's eyes shot open wide with Ayeka's last
words; he'd never heard the princess explain
herself in that way before, not in the entire
time that he'd ever known her. His face grew
stern as he brushed the dirt and leaves off of
Ayeka's back and shoulders.
"You are not helpless, Ayeka, and don't
let anyone convince you otherwise. You were
willing to help me when I needed you, and for
that I'll always be grateful." Tenchi
explained, and the princess's tense form
relaxed a great deal; At least she's not so
melancholy, he thought to himself. Putting a
hand on Ayeka's shoulder, Tenchi gave a faint
smile to the princess despite the fact that she
stood facing away from him. "Now, c'mon,
Sasami's gotten lunch ready and she won't serve
us until you come back to the house. She
always wants your opinion on her cooking, you
know; so you can't keep her waiting and
wondering, will you?" The princess gave a
faint laugh, though Tenchi sensed it was tinged
with a bit of sadness.
"No, I guess not." Ayeka spoke. As the
elder princess dusted the remaining dirt off of
the front of herself, the two heard a groan
emanate from inside the cave shrine. Tenchi
turned to see a pale young girl stumble out of
the opening to the cave, her purple hair strewn
in every direction. The girl grasped her
headband in one hand, and held her forehead in
the other. She looked up at the two standing
out in the open area in front and gasped in
surprise. Tenchi took a couple of steps out
toward the Ayeka coming out of the cave and
stopped in confusion for several seconds,
looking back then at the Ayeka that had fallen
in mud.
"What in the world is going on? Ayeka,
what is going on he-uurrk!" Tenchi asked the
mud soaked Ayeka, but couldn't finish his
words. Tenchi turned to face the Ayeka nearest
him, when the mud-covered princess's hand shot
out and firmly gripped Tenchi by the throat.
Quickly hoisting the young Masaki off of his
feet, the muddied Ayeka quickly began to
transform herself; her body seemed to slim out
and grow longer, and her bosom faded into a
smaller size. Her purple hair deepened into a
near-pitch black, with white stripes fading in
as well. The thing that caught Tenchi's
attention the most was the transformed
creature's eyes; her purple and silver eyes had
a deadened, artificial look to them.
"May the test begin," The artificial
mused flatly, blinking slowly at the young
Masaki. Bringing up her free hand and aiming
it at Tenchi's chest, the creature began to
summon up a small orb of energy, pulsing and
crackling with a pale yellow. The young
Masaki's eyes grew huge with unbridled fear as
the orb in the artificial's hand grew both in
size and intensity. As the orb flared its
deadly form one last time, Tenchi made one last
attempt to break free; all he could manage was
a near-silent scream.
Blinding yellow and red were all that
Tenchi saw before darkness overtook his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's done! It's done!" Washu exclaimed,
jumping up onto the couch and peered into the
floating monitor that hovered in front of her.
Mihoshi stopped her current activity, which was
eating an apple while watching the afternoon
soap opera, and glanced over at the child
genius from the center of the couch. Ryo-ohki,
who sat at the farthest end, even took a moment
to stop chewing on her carrot to take a look
over toward Washu's direction.
"What're you talking about, Washu?" the
space officer asked, scratching her head
quizzically. The child genius gave Mihoshi a
level-eyed stare before speaking.
"I might tell you, but you have to
promise me one thing." Washu spoke quietly,
closing her eyes and covering the monitor with
her hands. Mihoshi beamed a giant smile at the
scientist while chewing on a rather large bite
of apple, while Washu turned her head to look
at the space officer.
"Oh really, what's that?" she asked
innocently, putting a finger to her chin in
wonderment. Washu raised one eyebrow and gave
yet another level-eyed stare at Mihoshi.
"Never step foot in my laboratory for the
entire time you live here unless you're
accompanied by Tenchi, one of the girls, me, or
a platoon of armed guards!!" Washu exclaimed,
scaring the daylights out of Mihoshi. She
jumped back, nearly crushing the life out of
Ryo-ohki; the little cabbit meowed in
desperation and clawed her way out from
underneath Mihoshi.
"I'm sorry, Ryo-Ohki! I didn't mean to
squash you like that!" Mihoshi explained while
giving Ryo-ohki an apologetic look, though the
cabbit seemed not to notice. After freeing
herself from current situation, Ryo-ohki
quickly grabbed her half eaten carrot and gave
a 'Watch where you sit!' look at the space
officer. She bolted off toward the large chair
where Sasami sat, and sat down on the younger
princess's lap to resume eating her carrot.
"Oh, and yeah, I won't walk into you lab
unless… what was that list again?" Washu
slapped her head, and muttered something about
bubbleheads. At the table, sitting with and
writing in a large leather-bound journal, was
Ashe. His hair was neatly pulled back into an
intricately woven ponytail, and a portion of it
was draped across his shoulder as he wrote. He
tapped a ballpoint pen to his lips in thought
for a moment, and closed the journal. Standing
up slowly and stretching out for several
moments, the wanderer gave a slightly quizzical
look to everyone.
"I'm in the mood for something to drink;
would anyone like something while I go get
something for myself?" Ashe asked aloud; Washu
and Mihoshi stopped talking for a moment and
gave the wanderer a quick glance.
"I'll take a soda, please." Mihoshi
mused aloud, and turned back toward Washu. The
child scientist gave a pleasant smile toward
Ashe, and threw her arms over the back of the
couch.
"Hmm. I'd like green tea, with honey for
sweetener, if you please," the scientist said,
and turned back to Mihoshi to finish her
conversation. Ashe nodded his affirmation, and
cocked his head toward the younger princess's
direction while he backed himself toward the
kitchen door.
"Anything for you, Sasami?" the wanderer
asked. When he didn't get a reply, Ashe began
walking toward and around the couch in an
attempt to see the younger princess. As he
leaned over the couch to get a view on Sasami,
his eyes furrowed with concern.
"Sasami?" The two girls on the couch
stopped talking when Washu saw the wanderer
bending over behind Mihoshi. All of them look
a quick glance at Sasami; the girls dropped
what they were doing and rushed over to the
younger princess's side in grave recognition of
what was going on. Sasami's eyes were open
extremely wide, with her reddish-pink pupils
were dilated and her breathing coming in ragged
gasps. While it wasn't apparent to everyone in
the room, Washu had a very good clue what was
going on; Sasami was in the process of seeing a
vision.
"Sasami!" Washu half-yelled at the
princess, in a haphazard attempt to break her
out of the trance. However the princess didn't
budge or move at all; Ryo-ohki meowed
desperately and gently pawed at the younger
princess's nose in her own attempt to wake the
entranced princess. Ashe's eyes went huge with
apprehension as he witnessed the younger
princess going through her trancelike vision.
"Ashe, get some water and towels from the
kitchen, quick!" Washu blurted out, giving a
quick look over the young princess as she
checked her vital signs. The wanderer shook
himself out of his awestruck state of mind as
he bolted into the kitchen to gather the
necessary items. As Ashe gathered the towels
and other things, his eyes began to shimmer
with moisture; a singular tear slipped past his
defenses as Ashe filled a small bowl with some
water from the faucet. As the wanderer wiped
the remnants of the tear that clung to his
face, he grabbed all of the items and carefully
walked them over to the small crowd that
gathered over Sasami. As the girl's breathing
slowed down, and her eyes began to refocus on
her surroundings, Sasami began to get teary.
"If... If Sasami is alright, I'm going to
go into the kitchen for a little while." Ashe
spoke quietly, as Mihoshi and Washu took turns
calming down and soothing the obviously shook
up princess. Stopping only for a moment to
pick up his journal off of the table, he strode
over toward the door to the kitchen, and
quickly made his way through the kitchen and
toward the outside of the house.
"Alright Sasami, what happened?" Washu
asked, concern straining her youthful face.
Sasami blinked harshly, trying to find the
words to speak.
"I had… a vision. It was about Tenchi;
he got hurt, and Ryoko and Ayeka had to protect
him. And Ashe..." Sasami whispered, nearly
choking on the words to the last sentence.
Washu gave a wide eyed stare at the younger
princess. The child scientist took Sasami's
hand into her own, and held it firmly.
"What about Ashe, Sasami? What is it
that scares you about Ashe? You've got to tell
me what it is! Is he a threat?" Washu
questioned, attempting to ask the younger
princess without alarming her further than she
already was. The princess pulled away and
started bawling all over again while she poured
out the words that burned bitterly on her
tongue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in a well hidden meadow on a
mountain not far from the Masaki shrine stood
Ryoko; she had complete transformed her
previous clothing into her battle outfit,
complete with energy blade and angry sneer.
The crimson blade cast an eerie shade of red on
the meadow, giving the look that the whole area
was covered in blood; her damp hair was flopped
over her eyes, barely letting the pirate see
her opponent. Opposite the length of the
meadow stood the black and white haired shape
shifter, her arms crossed in front of her as
she stood looking at the pirate. The
artificial's body was as rigid as the mountain
she stood upon, with a blank and emotionless
stare covering her face. Several more feet
away to the side of the artificial lay the
prone and unconscious body of Tenchi Masaki.
Ayeka, who had almost completely recovered from
her own ordeal, moved slowly out of the cave
entrance and began eyeing the two women in
front of her carefully as she took in the
situation. The rain slowed down to a faint
drizzle, though no one was paying any mind at
this point.
"This is not the way this test was
intended to begin," the artificial remarked
flatly and placed her arms to her sides, palms
facing the ground. Small yellow bolts of
energy twitched and screamed into being,
jumping from the ground to her hands and
between her fingertips as she stared down her
current opponent. "But, nonetheless, I will
carry out my intentions; the rules,
unfortunately, will have to change
accordingly." Ryoko was now baring her teeth
in open lividness at the opponent in front of
her, in response to the artificial's spoken
words.
"A TEST!? If you really thought you
could stop in and pull a pop quiz like this,
you must be brain damaged!" Ryoko roared,
pointing the energy blade at her opponent to
emphasize the point. The artificial blinked
twice, and furrowed her brow in odd confusion.
"I am an artificial being; I do not have
a brain to damage. But that is not the issue
at hand; the test must continue." The
artificial stated, taking a quick glance at
first the pirate, then Ayeka, then the
unconscious Masaki lying nearby. Ryoko,
noticing the divided attention of the
artificial, glanced over at the princess; she
was standing at the bottom steps of the cave,
now, and had placed her headpiece back onto her
head. Ayeka brought her gaze toward Ryoko, who
purposefully glanced over toward Tenchi's form,
and quickly nodded. Understanding the cues,
both girls tensed up and faced the artificial,
ready to begin.
"You mind telling me your name, bitch?"
Ryoko breathed through gritted teeth. The
artificial brought her attention back toward
Ryoko, and audibly sighed.
"My name, if you must know, is Ersatzu;
though why you want such information is unclear
to me," the artificial spoke, raising an
eyebrow in a questioning look. Ryoko choked
out a vengeful laugh, and pushed her rain-
soaked locks of hair out of her sight. Eyeing
Ersatzu with a deadly serious gaze, the pirate
readied her blade out in front.
"Simple. I'd need to know what to carve
on your tombstone." The whole meadow went
silent, except for the faint sound of rain
falling onto the trees around them. It seemed
like several seconds passed without any of the
people within the meadow moving or breathing,
as if time had frozen in place for all of them.
"Now!" Ryoko yelled, and both princess
and pirate began a dead run for the artificial.
Ersatzu braced herself for the coming attack,
stopping her electrical display and summoning
up her own energy blade; slightly smaller than
Ryoko's own weapon, but crackling and spurting
yellow bolts as if eager for the upcoming
combat. Realizing the intent of the two
warriors bearing down on her, Ersatzu used her
free hand to loose several small energy bolts
directly between the princess and the
unconscious Masaki; Ayeka screeched to a halt,
barely avoiding the mud and debris kicked up by
the explosive charges. Ersatzu, satisfied with
slowing one of her opponents, then brought her
full attention on an enraged Ryoko. The pirate
slashed and thrusted several times in an
attempt to damage the artificial; however, all
of them were cleanly dodged or parried.
Ersatzu frowned at the display of skill that
Ryoko presented, and back flipped several feet
away from the pirate. Ryoko gave the
artificial no quarter, flying in immediately
behind her in every attempt to keep pace. The
artificial, immediately after landing her jump,
made another fast attempt to figure out the
position of her enemies; she caught a glimpse
of Ayeka with Tenchi in her arms, running
toward the temple steps while Ryoko quickly put
herself into Ersatzu's face, her energy sword
thirsting for blood. Ersatzu cleanly dodged
another set of thrusts, and moved quickly to
Ryoko's left. The pirate dodged the oncoming
slice, but barely; she felt the fiery sting of
Ersatzu's blade cut and cauterize the wound in
one fell strike. Ryoko bolted high into the
air and away from the artificial, putting the
rest of her body between the injured arm and
Ersatzu. The artificial didn't move; she stood
poised and unmoving in the final portion of the
swinging arc that injured Ryoko. Ersatzu
tilted her head to look at the pirate.
"So much potential put to waste; how
disappointing," Ersatzu declared, slowly
shifting her body into a standing position.
"Nonetheless, I have the information that I
require, and my presence here is no longer
necessary." Ryoko threw several of her own
energy bolts toward Ersatzu, but the artificial
phased away from the attack without a thought.
Ersatzu phased back into being several hundred
feet above Ryoko, and extended her arms; bright
yellow orbs began filling her outstretched
hands, growing more intense and crackling
loudly as the moments passed. Without wasting
a second, Ersatzu hurled them both at the
Masaki home. Ryoko turned to witness the two
orbs speeding their way downward and
earthbound; muttering curses under her breath,
she phased from her current position to a point
in the sky directly between the house and the
two screaming orbs that were making their
descent.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." Ryoko
breathed, as the orbs neared her position. The
pirate gritted her teeth in an attempt to brace
herself for the pain that she knew was coming.
As the orbs followed their course, the pirate's
eyes and form blazed a deep red, while the gem
that was embedded into her right wrist began to
glow a heavy crimson as well. A primal scream
ripped past Ryoko's lips as she caught both
orbs, one in each hand. Slamming together her
hands in a mute 'pop', the pirate dispersed the
energy orbs, never taking her eyes off of
Ersatzu. The artificial raised an eyebrow at
Ryoko as the pirate gave a cocky smile back.
"It seems that I have underestimated your
capabilities; an oversight that was corrected
in excellent time. However, I still have what
I require; we will most likely meet again,"
Ersatzu said, as she phased slowly out of the
skies above the Masaki household. "And then, we
shall see if you are as skillful as you seem to
be." With that, the artificial winked out of
sight. The pirate hovered in place for several
seconds, and then breathed out a heavy sigh.
She turned back toward the house to witness
Ayeka taking Tenchi into the house by way of
the pier doors; she quickly teleported down
into the living room to see exactly what
Tenchi's condition was. He was placed on the
couch, and his raincoat and shirt removed to
look for any broken bones or bleeding. Sasami
and Mihoshi were standing behind the couch and
watching, concern and worry was etched onto
their faces. Ryo-ohki was perched between the
two girls on the back of the couch, meowing in
a desperate and saddened tone. Washu quickly
took her place in front of the injured Tenchi,
and brought her holo pad into being. A faint
yellow beam whisked itself up and down the
unconscious form of the young Masaki, as the
holo pad scanned Tenchi's body for any further
sign of injury. After several seconds the beam
disappeared, and the young scientist made her
diagnosis.
"Tenchi is unconscious and has numerous
bruises and scrapes, but he's not damaged in
any major or life-threatening way. Whatever
you two fought," Washu stated, turning away
from the couch to look at the two girls, "It
seems that she didn't want him dead." Ryoko
rolled her eyes at the scientist, and took the
towel that Mihoshi had offered to dry herself
off.
"Could've fooled me; but are you sure
that Tenchi is fine otherwise?" Ryoko
questioned, floating over toward the couch to
appease her own uneasiness about Tenchi's
condition. Washu gave her daughter a look of
obvious annoyance, and sighed.
"Yes, I'm quite sure. You know, I'm
beginning to think that you all just don't
believe me when I say he'll be alright! I am
the greatest scientific mind in the galaxy,
after all!" Washu declared, putting her index
finger into the air to emphasize her words. As
both Ryoko and Ayeka gave each other annoyed
looks, Ashe came into the living room from the
kitchen. Giving a confused look at everyone,
the wanderer scratched his head and began to
ask a question he never got to finish. Ryoko
and Ashe's eyes locked for a moment, and the
pirate's face shifted rapidly from concern,
then to surprise, and finally settled itself on
displaying blatant rage. Ryoko picked up the
wanderer by the collar of the black long
sleeved shirt he was wearing, and forcefully
walked him straight into and against the wall
behind him. The planks and drywall cracked
underneath the pressure as the wanderer began
to gasp for breath. Ryoko put her face right
into the wanderer's own, and looked straight
into Ashe's awestruck eyes.
"You have exactly ten seconds to explain
yourself, before I begin finding out what part
of you doesn't grow back."
End of Chapter 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and AIC. I've no intention of using this to
garner profits of any kind or type, so unless
you like to take a poor man's computer away
from him, please don't sue me!? Please?
All other characters, depictions, places,
and theories that have been put into place are
my own creation and have no relevance to Tenchi
Muyo in any way except in the ways I've
explained. These are my own thoughts and
imagination, and any relation to other stories
that are not my own are accidental. Honest.
My e-mail is kerrigan2001@attbi.com for
any and all feedback. Please, PLEASE SEND
FEEDBACK OF ANY KIND!!! Thank you! ^-^
Author's note: This is where the action
actually starts, so I thought I'd warn all of
you battle junkies....
All right, enough talk....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Tenchi Muyo: The Web of Life~~~
Chapter 3:Bokkens and Reconnaissance(Rev.5.0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And that is all for your lessons for
today, Tenchi. And thank you, Ashe, for
joining us as well." Katsuhito spoke, bowing
to both of the young men, who returned the bow
in deep respect. Both young men took this free
moment to yawn audibly; it had been several
days since Ashe's rescue, and Tenchi wasn't
able to get a complete night's sleep
considering that Ayeka and Ryoko kept him out
on the town for most of the night on another of
their dates. Ashe, since Ryoko decided to move
back into her own room again, was forced to
sleep on the couch which was found to be not as
comfortable as he might have hoped. Both young
men turned to each other and began to walk from
the priest, who eyed the two as they left.
"Hey, Ashe, I heard that you finished the
rest of the carrot fields in record time.
That's some feat; I can't get half of them done
in a week, let alone two in an hour. I'm
impressed, for a newcomer." Tenchi noted,
giving a resolute nod of approval at the
wanderer and motioned him to follow to the
stairs that led down away from the training
area. The training area Ashe currently found
himself in was one of the few large meadows
that one might find on the shrine mountain, and
this particular meadows size was rare, indeed.
After giving the area a quick look around, Ashe
brought his attention to Tenchi and gave a
smile at his newfound friend.
"Not a problem, Tenchi. I appreciate the
hospitality with my unexpected arrival,
considering I can imagine what your family
seems to think of me. I've gotten the distinct
impression that unexpected visitors aren't
always welcome in this area of the world."
Ashe replied. Tenchi gave a surprised mental
step back, thinking that he'd given the wrong
impression from what he had said.
"Ah, I'm sorry about that. You see, when
someone drops in the way you did, you end up
catching the wrong side of people in this
family. It's not meant to be disrespectful,
just we've become rather cautious of things
that just pop up out of nowhere." Tenchi spoke
hurriedly. Ashe nodded in sad understanding,
and began to walk alongside Tenchi as they
neared the edge of the training area. A loud
cough was heard from behind both of them, and
both young men turned to face the priest.
"Ashe, if you would be so kind, I would
like to have a talk with you. We've not been
properly introduced except for this particular
morning, so if you'd be so kind, please." The
wanderer gave Katsuhito a joyful nod of
approval.
"I'd be honored, sir. I won't be able to
stay for very long unfortunately; I'm taking
the place of Tenchi for sweeping the temple
steps, so I'll have to be quick. Is that
alright?" Ashe replied.
Katsuhito gave the young Masaki boy a
raised eyebrow, to which Tenchi sighed and
dropped his head in response. Ashe felt
tension spring into the air and tried to
recover the earlier mood.
"I'm guessing that I've done something
wrong by taking over Tenchi's chores. I
apologize, sir, but I felt it was a fitting
payment for what he was willing to do when he
found me the night before last," Ashe
continued. Tenchi began to visibly become
uncomfortable as the priest looked Ashe over,
and then his grandson. Tenchi mentally planned
out what most likely was going to happen;
Grandpa would tell me that I'm attempting to
neglect my responsibilities again, and that a
guest shouldn't have to do such things while
staying at this house. But Ashe had demanded
that he take them; it was like he couldn't
stand the thought of letting someone walk away
from him without repaying what he thought was a
debt. It's kind of strange to think there's
someone like myself in the world.
"I will not mind you starting on the
temple steps later on in the day. However, I
would like to know of you, as you most likely
have stories I may find interesting." The
wanderer plastered on a sheepish grin, and
shook his head to deny it. The young Masaki
nearly jumped when he heard Katsuhito thank
Ashe for being willing to repay his debt to
Tenchi.
"They wouldn't be very interesting, sir.
I'm a wanderer, that's all; most of them would
be about my nearly getting killed or beaten
down by a horde of angry villagers. Ever since
I was born, I've always had the nagging feeling
that I don't belong; every place that I'd
travel to just seems to prove those theories
right. No offense." Ashe explained, motioning
his apology toward the two men that stood with
him in the field. Tenchi shrugged his
shoulders in understanding, and Katsuhito
nodded in agreement.
"Nonetheless, humor an old man, would
you?" The priest requested with a gleam in his
ancient eyes. Ashe dropped his own head in
defeat, realizing there was no way to get away
from this. Tenchi began to sit down,
interested to hear of Ashe's wanderings,
when Katsuhito cleared his throat a second time
and began speaking again. "Tenchi, your father
had made it clear to me that you have NOT been
keeping the storage area for our vegetables
sorted and clean. While your newfound friend
and I talk, you will begin on that immediately,
understood?" Tenchi stood back up quickly, and
bowed toward his grandfather.
"Hai, grandfather," Tenchi breathed, and
let a faint look of disappointment cross his
face as he took the steps down away from the
training grounds toward home. Ashe called out
to Tenchi as the young man traversed the
stairs.
"Don't worry, Tenchi! I've got a story
that you might find interesting; I'll tell it
to you at lunch, okay?" Both men heard an
half-enthusiastic voice jump up from the
stairs.
"Alright! I'll see you then," the voice
was heard saying. Ashe smiled, and turned back
toward Tenchi's grandfather. Katsuhito nodded
to Ashe and strode to the edge of the training
area and picked up two of the several bokkens
that had been in use during Tenchi's training
exercises. He held one up for himself and
handed the other to Ashe, handle out. Ashe
held up his own hands, and took a step back
away from the bokken.
"I'm sorry, sir. I'm not a warrior. I
apologize for this, but I'm not one for doing
battle of any kind." The wanderer explained, a
look of somberness clouding his face, and took
another step back. Katsuhito stepped in to
close the distance, still brandishing the
reversed bokken toward Ashe. The priest had a
deadpan seriousness hovering over his face as
he began to speak.
"I will be serious with you, Ashe. Where
my grandson was hesitant to explain, I will
continue. We have become wary with newcomers
from the stars. The family is concerned with
your sudden arrival at the house; Ryoko and
Ayeka are more so, though the words that you
speak have pointed to the opposite.
"However, I must know how you would fare
in battle as this home has been the target of
both dangerous and powerful enemies in the
past. If it is possible that you can fight,
you may be a great asset to us in our home's
protection while you are here. So please,
simply spar with me for but a moment," the
priest explained, and motioned the bokken
toward Ashe a third time. This time the
wanderer did not move away.
The wanderer lifted his arms and gingerly
took the smoothed handle of the outstretched
weapon into his hands. Letting Ashe become
more intimately acquainted with the wooden
blade, Katsuhito watched the wanderer's
expressions change from misunderstanding and
fear slowly fade into curiosity and fondness
for the weapon in his hands as he caressed and
held it. It's like he's found a forgotten
memory, the priest mentally noted, as he
watched Ashe begin to move and slide.
As Ashe became seemingly lost in the
motions of wielding the blade in various
positions the wanderer moved the blade, at one
point, with a speed that blurred the weapon
from sight. Stopping with a practiced halt,
the wanderer turned and faced Katsuhito from
his side of the training area roughly twenty
bokken lengths away. Ashe bowed his head low,
and held the blade horizontally out in front of
him.
"I guess I'm ready, sir." Ashe spoke
quietly, as if hoping that the words wouldn't
be heard.
"Alright, then, let us begin!" The
priest exclaimed, and took his position,
dropping himself into a fighting stance. Ashe
witnessed Katsuhito's motions and followed
through in a likewise, though less graceful
motion. Several seconds passed without anyone
or anything moving around or between the two
sparring partners. As the wanderer peered at
Katsuhito through slotted eyes, a single cherry
blossom drifted through the space between them.
Eyeing the blossom for just a moment, both men
watched the blossom slowly drift and spin
between them, and just as suddenly drop to the
ground. Each man growled a battle cry as they
charged; each man yelled in fury as the bokkens
closed in on each other for dominance, and each
man burned with the thrill of combat for the
first time in a long time as the two wooden
blades made contact.
KKEEEEEEEEEEEEE-RAK!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And after all of that, the singer just
hops onstage and yells into the microphone,
'C'mon! Just one more time, everybody, now!'"
Ashe blurted, laughing hysterically. Tenchi's
own eyes turned to saucers, and busted out
laughing as well. The two men sat on the pier
looking out toward the lake, watching the fish
jump for the insects that hovered over the
water and laughing about their own stories.
Ashe held chopsticks in one hand, eating
a bowl of ramen and talking while Tenchi
finished his own bowl as well. The two men had
changed out of their dirtied working clothes
and into something a little cleaner. Ashe
chose to wear a black athletic shirt, with
emerald green sweatpants, while Tenchi had
decided on a white long-sleeved shirt and navy-
blue sweatpants. As the laughter in the young
men subsided, Tenchi gave a delighted pat on
Ashe's shoulder for a second and smiled
faintly.
"You know, Ashe, it must seem kind of
strange to you, seeing people like us seemingly
conspire against a new guest like this. We're
just so used, I guess, to having so many people
stop in and try to destroy the house or take
someone hostage that we've forgotten that once
in a while somebody nice drops in. Thanks for
the breather." Tenchi spoke, taking his gaze
back out toward the lake in front of them.
Ashe gave a bewildered smile to the young man,
and nodded his thanks.
"I wouldn't blame you in all honesty, if
you had wanted to get rid of me or even attack
me on sight, though," the wanderer explained
between bites of ramen, looking out over the
water as the sun began edge itself away from
its noon-time position in the sky. "I'm
actually surprised that you took me in this
fast; most of the other places and planets I've
been to have been more content trying to find
out what color my blood was or how fast I ran
out of town, than if I was friendly enough to
talk to."
Tenchi took a free moment to stare at the
wanderer; the young white-haired man had closed
his eyes tightly, as if he were trying to block
out some painful memories that fought to break
the surface. Tenchi looked back toward the
lake, thinking of a way to lighten the mood
that seemed to poison their current
conversation. Both men jumped when they heard
Katsuhito's voice from behind. Ashe turned to
see the priest standing at the main dock of the
house, watching the young men with a raised
eyebrow.
"Tenchi, Ashe, it is nearing time for
lunch," the priest stated, and looked out over
the horizon. Dark, thick clouds began to creep
over the sky, and the lukewarm breeze that
hovered around the men was becoming slightly
chilled. "Your chores for the day will be
suspended due to the rain, for both of you.
However, when it passes I'll expect you both to
finish as soon as it will be possible,
understood?" The young men both nodded in
agreement, and stood up to walk down the pier
toward the house. Katsuhito stood quietly as
Ayeka passed both men as they made their way
into the house. The princess's head was
drooped, and her hands were tucked into the
sleeves of her silver and navy blue kimono; her
navy blue cloak barely covered her shoulders.
Deep in thought, Ayeka began to walk toward the
temple steps, never realizing until far too
late that she ran straight into Katsuhito.
"Oof! What's wrong, Ayeka?" The priest
questioned, cocking his head to the side and
looking Ayeka over with a concerned stare. She
hurriedly brushed herself off, and gave a small
glance to Katsuhito, shaking her head slowly.
"Nothing, nothing is wrong, brother. I
simply have decided to sit alone and think
about several things would be all. Thank you
for your concern, however, and please tell
Tenchi and Sasami not to worry about me; I will
return in time for our midday meal." Ayeka
replied, her words half whispered. The priest
gave her another worried look, and stepped to
the side.
"Alright then, sister, I will let them
know. Remember that if you do need to talk to
someone, we're not far away," the priest
explained with an understanding smile. Ayeka
gave a faint nod and briskly made her way to
and up the temple steps toward her chosen
destination, while Katsuhito swiftly made his
way inside. After several more minutes the
princess stood in front of her chosen place of
meditation; the cave that Ryoko had been
imprisoned in. She settled down in front of
the entrance and looked to the clouds that had
finished creeping over the sky above to block
out the most of the light available. Several
drops of water had begun to fall to earth; the
clouds parted at slight and random intervals to
allow shard-like beams of light to shine
through.
Bowing her head slightly Ayeka sat on the
steps of the shrine, silently agreeing with the
storm as thunder rolled through like angels on
a warpath. As she listened to the thunder
blare out and lightning carve niches into the
clouds that created them, Ayeka began to talk
aloud her more intimate thoughts.
"What is it that I haven't done, Tenchi?
I've tried nearly everything that a decent
woman would attempt, and considered ideas that
others wouldn't dare. I just cannot understand
what it is about you that I can't seem to win
over," she whispered to herself. Even though
she'd been able to spend a much larger amount
of time with Tenchi since Ashe's arrival, she
still felt she was losing ground to Ryoko in
their little duel.
The rain began to fall harder onto the
ground just outside of Ayeka's position at the
cave; reaching out with her hands, the princess
captured a small cupful of rainwater and let it
drip and slide down her arms. Letting the
purifying feeling of the water comfort her as
it slithered down, Ayeka tilted her head back
and closed her eyes. Letting the rain kiss her
face and slip past her lips, the princess
allowed herself a faint smile as she ran her
slender fingers through her hair as she
caressed her headband key. Carefully pulling
the headband away from her head, she pushed her
bangs aside to wipe her forehead, stopping her
fingers on the marking she felt; a singular
crescent moon, creating a haphazard 'V' shape.
The markings reminded her of her current
position in life, and she began to think of her
future status as queen and ruler of Jurai. She
sighed heavily, and dropped her hands onto her
knees.
"I hope you can return my love someday,
Tenchi, because I do not know if I can wait
forever." She kept her eyes closed as she
stared at the sky, thinking about her current
situation. Although Ayeka wouldn't admit to it
openly, she envied Ryoko; her lewd, yet open
attitude toward Tenchi and the others was
something that Ayeka couldn't dare display.
Yet, at the same time, that same attitude was
something that she craved to have. To be able
to express her feelings about everything
simply, truthfully, without fear of resentment
or rejection was what Ayeka was striving to
have as part of her. She silently hoped that
by overcoming her royal station and being
simply Ayeka, she could close the gap between
the two girls and finally be able to reach out
to Tenchi without any fears. And, Ayeka hoped,
without rejection.
It was those same thoughts,
unfortunately, that kept the princess from
realizing a tall black and white haired woman
clothed in a black, sliver-striped body suit
phase into being directly behind her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dropping down from above onto the Masaki
residence the rain beat on the windows and roof
with focused measure, doing nothing but adding
to the tension existing inside. Tenchi sat in
a chair that faced the pier and outer porch
area, looking out toward the temple steps.
Ryoko, Mihoshi, and the others were watching an
animated television program while they waited
for lunch to finish being prepared. The pirate
gave Tenchi a forlorn face as the young Masaki
waited for Ayeka's return.
"C'mon, Tenchi, you're missing your
favorite show," Ryoko spoke, patting the open
space next to her on the couch, "And you know
Ayeka will be fine; she's a big girl, you
know." Tenchi turned to look at Ryoko and gave
a sweet smile, which warmed up the pirate a
visible amount.
"I know, but I still worry about her."
Tenchi explained, drooping his head slightly in
self-worry. Tenchi put his eyes back on the
window that he stared out earlier, which didn't
allow him to see Ryoko wince visibly. "I'd do
the same for you if you'd ever ask for time
alone, so please don't be hurt if I do this for
Ayeka, too." Ryoko gasped mentally, and
teleported off of the couch over toward
Tenchi's place on his chair. Wrapping her arms
around Tenchi's neck, Ryoko rested her head on
his right shoulder and sighed into his ear;
Tenchi tensed up as usual, but didn't take his
eyes off of the temple steps that Ayeka would
appear from.
"That means a lot, Tenchi. Thank you."
Ryoko whispered to Tenchi, nuzzling his ear as
she spoke. That got a reaction out of Tenchi,
whose eyes shot open wide.
"I'm happy that I made you feel better,
Ryoko." Tenchi rushed out of his mouth, now
torn between doing something about the intense
affection from Ryoko and waiting patiently for
Ayeka's return. While the pirate began trying
to get Tenchi to look at her long enough to
kiss, Sasami had entered the room carrying a
pot of steaming food. Setting it down in the
middle of the table, the younger princess
looked around and put up a worried face.
"Where's Ayeka?" Sasami wondered aloud,
which brought Tenchi's attention away from
Ryoko's blatant innuendo.
"She still hasn't come back from her time
alone. She said she'd be back in time for
lunch. I'll go get her." Tenchi said,
standing up quickly. Ryoko's grip on Tenchi
didn't lessen in the slightest, and she was
quickly dragged upwards and over the back of
the chair. Ryoko took a free moment to eye her
current position, and leveled her gaze at the
back of the young Masaki's head.
"Either you're getting stronger, or I'm
losing my touch," Ryoko muttered out loud,
which brought a smothered laugh from Washu on
the couch where she sat working on research.
"No comments from the peanut gallery, either."
Ryoko shot to the girl genius, as she let the
young Masaki go toward the closet to get his
rain coat. Blinking twice, Tenchi then grabbed
a long navy-blue rain coat hanging in the now
normal closet and quickly donned it. Making
his way back toward the door out, he gave a
quick smile to Ryoko and the others.
"I'll be right back; I'm just going to
bring Ayeka back to the house for lunch.
Ryoko, if you could please," Tenchi asked,
giving a more serious look to the pirate, "Just
stay here while I go and get Ayeka?" Ryoko
huffed and stubbornly looked out the window
toward the rain.
"Fine, whatever you want," she vented,
trying in vain to conceal the hurt that edged
itself through her voice. Tenchi tossed the
hood over his head, and after looking back at
the pirate for several seconds in quiet
thought, stepped out into the rain. Slowly and
carefully making his way up the steps, Tenchi
called out to Ayeka several times as he made
his rounds about the residence. When he got no
response, Tenchi stopped at the apex of the
temple steps and began thinking aloud.
"If I was someone who wanted time alone
from the others, where would I go?" Tenchi
wondered, looking about the temple grounds.
His thoughts stopped rather quickly, when
Tenchi thought about who Ayeka would want to be
alone from. Not wasting any time, the young
Masaki bolted toward and up the path that led
to the cave shrine. Reaching the area
surrounding the cave, Tenchi gave an audible
gasp; kneeling down on the rain-soaked ground
was an obviously muddy and dirty Ayeka; her
kimono and robes covered in mud, barely
recognizable. The princess's head was covered
by her cloak hood, so Tenchi couldn't tell
exactly if Ayeka was conscious or even alive;
her kimono was so covered in mud and rain that
the colors more closely resembled a deep brown
and grey than navy blue and silver. The young
Masaki rushed up to Ayeka's side and quickly
looked her over.
"Ayeka, what happened to you? Are you
awake? Can you hear me?!" Tenchi blurted out,
looking over the elder princess's form with
quickened worry. Ayeka groaned and began to
push Tenchi away from her.
"I'll be fine, Lord Tenchi, just provide
me a moment to stand." She made an attempt to
right herself on her own, but fell backwards
into Tenchi's arms as she faltered. Ayeka
blushed a great deal when she realized that
Tenchi was looking down at her from her rather
odd position, and hurriedly closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to fall into
you like that!" Ayeka blurted aloud, trying to
stand herself upright yet again. Tenchi shook
his head in silent laughter, and gave the
princess a helping hand with a firm yet tender
grip on her forearms. "I slipped and fell into
the mud, and I just couldn't get a firm enough
hold on the ground to stand again. I feel so
helpless…" she continued, her voice choking
with embarrassment and self-resentment.
Tenchi's eyes shot open wide with Ayeka's last
words; he'd never heard the princess explain
herself in that way before, not in the entire
time that he'd ever known her. His face grew
stern as he brushed the dirt and leaves off of
Ayeka's back and shoulders.
"You are not helpless, Ayeka, and don't
let anyone convince you otherwise. You were
willing to help me when I needed you, and for
that I'll always be grateful." Tenchi
explained, and the princess's tense form
relaxed a great deal; At least she's not so
melancholy, he thought to himself. Putting a
hand on Ayeka's shoulder, Tenchi gave a faint
smile to the princess despite the fact that she
stood facing away from him. "Now, c'mon,
Sasami's gotten lunch ready and she won't serve
us until you come back to the house. She
always wants your opinion on her cooking, you
know; so you can't keep her waiting and
wondering, will you?" The princess gave a
faint laugh, though Tenchi sensed it was tinged
with a bit of sadness.
"No, I guess not." Ayeka spoke. As the
elder princess dusted the remaining dirt off of
the front of herself, the two heard a groan
emanate from inside the cave shrine. Tenchi
turned to see a pale young girl stumble out of
the opening to the cave, her purple hair strewn
in every direction. The girl grasped her
headband in one hand, and held her forehead in
the other. She looked up at the two standing
out in the open area in front and gasped in
surprise. Tenchi took a couple of steps out
toward the Ayeka coming out of the cave and
stopped in confusion for several seconds,
looking back then at the Ayeka that had fallen
in mud.
"What in the world is going on? Ayeka,
what is going on he-uurrk!" Tenchi asked the
mud soaked Ayeka, but couldn't finish his
words. Tenchi turned to face the Ayeka nearest
him, when the mud-covered princess's hand shot
out and firmly gripped Tenchi by the throat.
Quickly hoisting the young Masaki off of his
feet, the muddied Ayeka quickly began to
transform herself; her body seemed to slim out
and grow longer, and her bosom faded into a
smaller size. Her purple hair deepened into a
near-pitch black, with white stripes fading in
as well. The thing that caught Tenchi's
attention the most was the transformed
creature's eyes; her purple and silver eyes had
a deadened, artificial look to them.
"May the test begin," The artificial
mused flatly, blinking slowly at the young
Masaki. Bringing up her free hand and aiming
it at Tenchi's chest, the creature began to
summon up a small orb of energy, pulsing and
crackling with a pale yellow. The young
Masaki's eyes grew huge with unbridled fear as
the orb in the artificial's hand grew both in
size and intensity. As the orb flared its
deadly form one last time, Tenchi made one last
attempt to break free; all he could manage was
a near-silent scream.
Blinding yellow and red were all that
Tenchi saw before darkness overtook his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's done! It's done!" Washu exclaimed,
jumping up onto the couch and peered into the
floating monitor that hovered in front of her.
Mihoshi stopped her current activity, which was
eating an apple while watching the afternoon
soap opera, and glanced over at the child
genius from the center of the couch. Ryo-ohki,
who sat at the farthest end, even took a moment
to stop chewing on her carrot to take a look
over toward Washu's direction.
"What're you talking about, Washu?" the
space officer asked, scratching her head
quizzically. The child genius gave Mihoshi a
level-eyed stare before speaking.
"I might tell you, but you have to
promise me one thing." Washu spoke quietly,
closing her eyes and covering the monitor with
her hands. Mihoshi beamed a giant smile at the
scientist while chewing on a rather large bite
of apple, while Washu turned her head to look
at the space officer.
"Oh really, what's that?" she asked
innocently, putting a finger to her chin in
wonderment. Washu raised one eyebrow and gave
yet another level-eyed stare at Mihoshi.
"Never step foot in my laboratory for the
entire time you live here unless you're
accompanied by Tenchi, one of the girls, me, or
a platoon of armed guards!!" Washu exclaimed,
scaring the daylights out of Mihoshi. She
jumped back, nearly crushing the life out of
Ryo-ohki; the little cabbit meowed in
desperation and clawed her way out from
underneath Mihoshi.
"I'm sorry, Ryo-Ohki! I didn't mean to
squash you like that!" Mihoshi explained while
giving Ryo-ohki an apologetic look, though the
cabbit seemed not to notice. After freeing
herself from current situation, Ryo-ohki
quickly grabbed her half eaten carrot and gave
a 'Watch where you sit!' look at the space
officer. She bolted off toward the large chair
where Sasami sat, and sat down on the younger
princess's lap to resume eating her carrot.
"Oh, and yeah, I won't walk into you lab
unless… what was that list again?" Washu
slapped her head, and muttered something about
bubbleheads. At the table, sitting with and
writing in a large leather-bound journal, was
Ashe. His hair was neatly pulled back into an
intricately woven ponytail, and a portion of it
was draped across his shoulder as he wrote. He
tapped a ballpoint pen to his lips in thought
for a moment, and closed the journal. Standing
up slowly and stretching out for several
moments, the wanderer gave a slightly quizzical
look to everyone.
"I'm in the mood for something to drink;
would anyone like something while I go get
something for myself?" Ashe asked aloud; Washu
and Mihoshi stopped talking for a moment and
gave the wanderer a quick glance.
"I'll take a soda, please." Mihoshi
mused aloud, and turned back toward Washu. The
child scientist gave a pleasant smile toward
Ashe, and threw her arms over the back of the
couch.
"Hmm. I'd like green tea, with honey for
sweetener, if you please," the scientist said,
and turned back to Mihoshi to finish her
conversation. Ashe nodded his affirmation, and
cocked his head toward the younger princess's
direction while he backed himself toward the
kitchen door.
"Anything for you, Sasami?" the wanderer
asked. When he didn't get a reply, Ashe began
walking toward and around the couch in an
attempt to see the younger princess. As he
leaned over the couch to get a view on Sasami,
his eyes furrowed with concern.
"Sasami?" The two girls on the couch
stopped talking when Washu saw the wanderer
bending over behind Mihoshi. All of them look
a quick glance at Sasami; the girls dropped
what they were doing and rushed over to the
younger princess's side in grave recognition of
what was going on. Sasami's eyes were open
extremely wide, with her reddish-pink pupils
were dilated and her breathing coming in ragged
gasps. While it wasn't apparent to everyone in
the room, Washu had a very good clue what was
going on; Sasami was in the process of seeing a
vision.
"Sasami!" Washu half-yelled at the
princess, in a haphazard attempt to break her
out of the trance. However the princess didn't
budge or move at all; Ryo-ohki meowed
desperately and gently pawed at the younger
princess's nose in her own attempt to wake the
entranced princess. Ashe's eyes went huge with
apprehension as he witnessed the younger
princess going through her trancelike vision.
"Ashe, get some water and towels from the
kitchen, quick!" Washu blurted out, giving a
quick look over the young princess as she
checked her vital signs. The wanderer shook
himself out of his awestruck state of mind as
he bolted into the kitchen to gather the
necessary items. As Ashe gathered the towels
and other things, his eyes began to shimmer
with moisture; a singular tear slipped past his
defenses as Ashe filled a small bowl with some
water from the faucet. As the wanderer wiped
the remnants of the tear that clung to his
face, he grabbed all of the items and carefully
walked them over to the small crowd that
gathered over Sasami. As the girl's breathing
slowed down, and her eyes began to refocus on
her surroundings, Sasami began to get teary.
"If... If Sasami is alright, I'm going to
go into the kitchen for a little while." Ashe
spoke quietly, as Mihoshi and Washu took turns
calming down and soothing the obviously shook
up princess. Stopping only for a moment to
pick up his journal off of the table, he strode
over toward the door to the kitchen, and
quickly made his way through the kitchen and
toward the outside of the house.
"Alright Sasami, what happened?" Washu
asked, concern straining her youthful face.
Sasami blinked harshly, trying to find the
words to speak.
"I had… a vision. It was about Tenchi;
he got hurt, and Ryoko and Ayeka had to protect
him. And Ashe..." Sasami whispered, nearly
choking on the words to the last sentence.
Washu gave a wide eyed stare at the younger
princess. The child scientist took Sasami's
hand into her own, and held it firmly.
"What about Ashe, Sasami? What is it
that scares you about Ashe? You've got to tell
me what it is! Is he a threat?" Washu
questioned, attempting to ask the younger
princess without alarming her further than she
already was. The princess pulled away and
started bawling all over again while she poured
out the words that burned bitterly on her
tongue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in a well hidden meadow on a
mountain not far from the Masaki shrine stood
Ryoko; she had complete transformed her
previous clothing into her battle outfit,
complete with energy blade and angry sneer.
The crimson blade cast an eerie shade of red on
the meadow, giving the look that the whole area
was covered in blood; her damp hair was flopped
over her eyes, barely letting the pirate see
her opponent. Opposite the length of the
meadow stood the black and white haired shape
shifter, her arms crossed in front of her as
she stood looking at the pirate. The
artificial's body was as rigid as the mountain
she stood upon, with a blank and emotionless
stare covering her face. Several more feet
away to the side of the artificial lay the
prone and unconscious body of Tenchi Masaki.
Ayeka, who had almost completely recovered from
her own ordeal, moved slowly out of the cave
entrance and began eyeing the two women in
front of her carefully as she took in the
situation. The rain slowed down to a faint
drizzle, though no one was paying any mind at
this point.
"This is not the way this test was
intended to begin," the artificial remarked
flatly and placed her arms to her sides, palms
facing the ground. Small yellow bolts of
energy twitched and screamed into being,
jumping from the ground to her hands and
between her fingertips as she stared down her
current opponent. "But, nonetheless, I will
carry out my intentions; the rules,
unfortunately, will have to change
accordingly." Ryoko was now baring her teeth
in open lividness at the opponent in front of
her, in response to the artificial's spoken
words.
"A TEST!? If you really thought you
could stop in and pull a pop quiz like this,
you must be brain damaged!" Ryoko roared,
pointing the energy blade at her opponent to
emphasize the point. The artificial blinked
twice, and furrowed her brow in odd confusion.
"I am an artificial being; I do not have
a brain to damage. But that is not the issue
at hand; the test must continue." The
artificial stated, taking a quick glance at
first the pirate, then Ayeka, then the
unconscious Masaki lying nearby. Ryoko,
noticing the divided attention of the
artificial, glanced over at the princess; she
was standing at the bottom steps of the cave,
now, and had placed her headpiece back onto her
head. Ayeka brought her gaze toward Ryoko, who
purposefully glanced over toward Tenchi's form,
and quickly nodded. Understanding the cues,
both girls tensed up and faced the artificial,
ready to begin.
"You mind telling me your name, bitch?"
Ryoko breathed through gritted teeth. The
artificial brought her attention back toward
Ryoko, and audibly sighed.
"My name, if you must know, is Ersatzu;
though why you want such information is unclear
to me," the artificial spoke, raising an
eyebrow in a questioning look. Ryoko choked
out a vengeful laugh, and pushed her rain-
soaked locks of hair out of her sight. Eyeing
Ersatzu with a deadly serious gaze, the pirate
readied her blade out in front.
"Simple. I'd need to know what to carve
on your tombstone." The whole meadow went
silent, except for the faint sound of rain
falling onto the trees around them. It seemed
like several seconds passed without any of the
people within the meadow moving or breathing,
as if time had frozen in place for all of them.
"Now!" Ryoko yelled, and both princess
and pirate began a dead run for the artificial.
Ersatzu braced herself for the coming attack,
stopping her electrical display and summoning
up her own energy blade; slightly smaller than
Ryoko's own weapon, but crackling and spurting
yellow bolts as if eager for the upcoming
combat. Realizing the intent of the two
warriors bearing down on her, Ersatzu used her
free hand to loose several small energy bolts
directly between the princess and the
unconscious Masaki; Ayeka screeched to a halt,
barely avoiding the mud and debris kicked up by
the explosive charges. Ersatzu, satisfied with
slowing one of her opponents, then brought her
full attention on an enraged Ryoko. The pirate
slashed and thrusted several times in an
attempt to damage the artificial; however, all
of them were cleanly dodged or parried.
Ersatzu frowned at the display of skill that
Ryoko presented, and back flipped several feet
away from the pirate. Ryoko gave the
artificial no quarter, flying in immediately
behind her in every attempt to keep pace. The
artificial, immediately after landing her jump,
made another fast attempt to figure out the
position of her enemies; she caught a glimpse
of Ayeka with Tenchi in her arms, running
toward the temple steps while Ryoko quickly put
herself into Ersatzu's face, her energy sword
thirsting for blood. Ersatzu cleanly dodged
another set of thrusts, and moved quickly to
Ryoko's left. The pirate dodged the oncoming
slice, but barely; she felt the fiery sting of
Ersatzu's blade cut and cauterize the wound in
one fell strike. Ryoko bolted high into the
air and away from the artificial, putting the
rest of her body between the injured arm and
Ersatzu. The artificial didn't move; she stood
poised and unmoving in the final portion of the
swinging arc that injured Ryoko. Ersatzu
tilted her head to look at the pirate.
"So much potential put to waste; how
disappointing," Ersatzu declared, slowly
shifting her body into a standing position.
"Nonetheless, I have the information that I
require, and my presence here is no longer
necessary." Ryoko threw several of her own
energy bolts toward Ersatzu, but the artificial
phased away from the attack without a thought.
Ersatzu phased back into being several hundred
feet above Ryoko, and extended her arms; bright
yellow orbs began filling her outstretched
hands, growing more intense and crackling
loudly as the moments passed. Without wasting
a second, Ersatzu hurled them both at the
Masaki home. Ryoko turned to witness the two
orbs speeding their way downward and
earthbound; muttering curses under her breath,
she phased from her current position to a point
in the sky directly between the house and the
two screaming orbs that were making their
descent.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." Ryoko
breathed, as the orbs neared her position. The
pirate gritted her teeth in an attempt to brace
herself for the pain that she knew was coming.
As the orbs followed their course, the pirate's
eyes and form blazed a deep red, while the gem
that was embedded into her right wrist began to
glow a heavy crimson as well. A primal scream
ripped past Ryoko's lips as she caught both
orbs, one in each hand. Slamming together her
hands in a mute 'pop', the pirate dispersed the
energy orbs, never taking her eyes off of
Ersatzu. The artificial raised an eyebrow at
Ryoko as the pirate gave a cocky smile back.
"It seems that I have underestimated your
capabilities; an oversight that was corrected
in excellent time. However, I still have what
I require; we will most likely meet again,"
Ersatzu said, as she phased slowly out of the
skies above the Masaki household. "And then, we
shall see if you are as skillful as you seem to
be." With that, the artificial winked out of
sight. The pirate hovered in place for several
seconds, and then breathed out a heavy sigh.
She turned back toward the house to witness
Ayeka taking Tenchi into the house by way of
the pier doors; she quickly teleported down
into the living room to see exactly what
Tenchi's condition was. He was placed on the
couch, and his raincoat and shirt removed to
look for any broken bones or bleeding. Sasami
and Mihoshi were standing behind the couch and
watching, concern and worry was etched onto
their faces. Ryo-ohki was perched between the
two girls on the back of the couch, meowing in
a desperate and saddened tone. Washu quickly
took her place in front of the injured Tenchi,
and brought her holo pad into being. A faint
yellow beam whisked itself up and down the
unconscious form of the young Masaki, as the
holo pad scanned Tenchi's body for any further
sign of injury. After several seconds the beam
disappeared, and the young scientist made her
diagnosis.
"Tenchi is unconscious and has numerous
bruises and scrapes, but he's not damaged in
any major or life-threatening way. Whatever
you two fought," Washu stated, turning away
from the couch to look at the two girls, "It
seems that she didn't want him dead." Ryoko
rolled her eyes at the scientist, and took the
towel that Mihoshi had offered to dry herself
off.
"Could've fooled me; but are you sure
that Tenchi is fine otherwise?" Ryoko
questioned, floating over toward the couch to
appease her own uneasiness about Tenchi's
condition. Washu gave her daughter a look of
obvious annoyance, and sighed.
"Yes, I'm quite sure. You know, I'm
beginning to think that you all just don't
believe me when I say he'll be alright! I am
the greatest scientific mind in the galaxy,
after all!" Washu declared, putting her index
finger into the air to emphasize her words. As
both Ryoko and Ayeka gave each other annoyed
looks, Ashe came into the living room from the
kitchen. Giving a confused look at everyone,
the wanderer scratched his head and began to
ask a question he never got to finish. Ryoko
and Ashe's eyes locked for a moment, and the
pirate's face shifted rapidly from concern,
then to surprise, and finally settled itself on
displaying blatant rage. Ryoko picked up the
wanderer by the collar of the black long
sleeved shirt he was wearing, and forcefully
walked him straight into and against the wall
behind him. The planks and drywall cracked
underneath the pressure as the wanderer began
to gasp for breath. Ryoko put her face right
into the wanderer's own, and looked straight
into Ashe's awestruck eyes.
"You have exactly ten seconds to explain
yourself, before I begin finding out what part
of you doesn't grow back."
End of Chapter 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
