the Bet- Children of an alien god all major char tm somebody else partial/rough/prereaders -------------------------------------------------- Toltiir, kami/demon/god of mischief, watched as a number of powers sacrificed tiny amounts of power in their bids to found an entirely new timeline, one that would announce their own creativity to their brethren. Pride is not restricted to mortal beings. "This one," proclaimed Nabiki Tendo, a mere mortal who dared to face beings that were old when her world was still forming from the remnants of previous supernovas. "Double or nothing, that this is the best change." "Done," smiled the cat, though inwardly he wondered just what he would do with this gambler when the debt came due. He wasn't a demon, and though an elder god, he didn't devour souls or anything of that nature. He was the Trickster, though, so he would think of something... ----------------------------------------------------------- Kagato reconsidered. Sending Ryoko to Jurai by herself seemed...wasteful. He altered his plans slightly. Ryoko would go with Ryo-oh-ki and break through their defenses, shoot the place up. THAT part of the plan would remain unchanged. Then, with their planetary defenses holed, Kagato would himself show up, devastate the planet, and steal whatever secrets he could. After all, none could stand against him now. Kagato smiled. Perhaps even the great ship Tsunami would be his, its power added to his own to make him invincible! A supreme power of the universe, surpassing his old teacher- Washu! --------------------------------------- "...but he said..." Nabiki glanced back at the helpful young godling that had advised her, to see the form shift into a woman who seemed to be split down the middle into light and dark halves. "There's another mistake," Toltiir noted. "For advice, you went to Hel." "...but I..." "Kills one theory, I thought you might have been doing this on purpose." ---------------------------------------- _/Hokkaido, 1243 AD:\_ Yosho's ship landed, and a major battle occurred. Ryoko was, after a long battle, imprisoned. Her gems were pulled into the sword, and Yosho could at last weep for his world. "Master Yosho?" The knight stood to the side. "Your ship-tree was damaged severely, sir, it doesn't look like we'll be leaving this world. Sorry to disturb you, sir, but the other survivors..." Yosho nodded. A scant two hundred survivors, many of them the women and children of those who had perished in the battle. Plus, something else... "Plant my ship-tree's seedling there, in the mound at the center of the crater." Yosho pushed his grief to the side. Time for that later, for now he had to be strong. "How many warriors do we have?" "Eight sir. Myself and one other knight, two warders, three of the nursery guards, Azaka and Kamidake." The knight paused. "Of the remainder, there are over one hundred fifty children, forty seven are non-warrior adults." Yosho nodded again. "Principal lifeform of this world?" "That's one of the strange things, sir. Our readings come back that they are 99% Juraian down to the genetic level. I suppose this could be one of the Seeded worlds..." "Could be," agreed Yosho. This made things a little easier, at least. ---------------------------------------------------- _/Hokkaido, Masaki Shrine, 1244 AD:\_ "Report," Yosho ordered. He spared a smile and a nod at his native-born wife before turning his attention to the knight. Keeping it casual, the natives were watching after all, Kodai nodded his head respectfully. "The vast majority of our numbers are entombed in the healing matrixes. Princess Sasami will live, of course, but..." "But when she returns to us, it will be Tsunami as well as Sasami." Yosho adjusted his native clothing. As refugees from a wartorn land, they had been granted sanctuary in what had been a lightly occupied mountain valley. "What of Ryoko?" "Her containment has been accomplished. Elder Fujitsu estimates that by the time our people are ready, all of Kagato's controls will have been broken." "Good." Yosho glanced back at his wife, marvelling anew at her poise and beauty, and that he had found such a jewel in such a primitive setting. "What of the others? What of yourself, Kodai? How are you settling in?" A faint smile crossed the young knight's face. "Not having nearly your luck with the ladies, my liege. I understand that we need to blend in, but..." "You didn't go into hibernation with everyone else," pointed out Yosho. "If the primitive living conditions and lack of Jurai energy here are getting to you, that remains an option." "No, my liege." Kodai sighed and rested his weight on his battlestaff. "We who remain are loyal to you, and there are many things that must be done before we are ready for the awakening." Yosho nodded, appreciating the enormity of the task before them. He was well into his guise as a priest of the Twin Shrines, one dedicated to Life and Rebirth, the other the Demon's Tomb. "The hot spring we created will be ringed with Jurai sprouts soon." Kodai's smile broadened. When they reached maturity in four hundred years, they would begin building the Jurai power. By the time of the planned awakening, it would be enough to sustain the populace. "They are growing well, then." Yosho nodded. In many ways, this was a perfect world for them. "Well, I appreciate the information, Kodai. Get back to your role as a farmer then, and by all means keep well till next we meet." _/Hokkaido, Masaki Shrine, 1251 AD:\_ "You won't change your mind, Kodai? We shall miss you." Yosho appeared to be studying the ring of trees around the steaming pool. The hot spring was created by the battle between Ryoko and Yosho, constrained and shaped by the scientist Tombo. "As the natives say, 'do not put all of your eggs in one basket', milord. By planting and tending Jurai seedlings far from here, we are not entirely cut off if something happens here within this valley." Kodai paused. "Too, I have not been able to fit well into my role here. I have found none to ease my own loneliness the way the other men have, nor do I have any kin among those here. I am the most dispensable, therefore the duty falls to me." Yosho nodded. Not really agreeing, but seeing the other's point of view. "So where are you going?" "I shall plant the seedlings in areas where they can thrive, and in areas that are sufficiently out of the way that they may grow to maturity without native interference. My planned route will go through the West, though I hope to wander the planet till I find a place that I may call home." "What of the others?" "The same," Kodai said. "Nothing here to hold us. We'll each find a place to farm, and to tend the trees we plant. There are only three of us going, though, and the mission is mainly mine. I fully expect Kogen and Nigami to return." "Go then, my friend. Success in your mission, and may you find happiness in your chosen path." "Thank you, my liege." Kodai smiled. "Thank you, my friend." _/Bayankala Mountain Range, China.\_____ "Some sort of warrior woman, isn't she?" Kodai smiled at the fierce, sword-wielding, maiden who was apparently questioning their right to continue. "Damn, the translation effect is apparently not working." "Another primitive violent maniac," summed up Nigami's opinion. Kogen grinned and tried to look friendly/nonthreatening. "Maybe, but she's REALLY cute." "Kinda young for you, isn't she, Kogen?" Nigami elbowed the farmer. "Yeah, I suppose. I just miss..." Noting the warrior girl was just standing there, weapon ready, Kodai forced himself to relax. "We all miss home." "Sir, I was engaged. She was a pilot. She was on one of the ships that was destroyed when Kagato began his final approach." Kogen blinked and sighed. "She was a fierce warrior herself." "Ah." Kodai noted that the girl was still eyeing them suspiciously. "Well, what do you think? Do we go around and avoid whatever she's guarding? Or do we..." The girl, perhaps 17 years of age, moved forward, her sword coming up to drive it through Kodai. Kogen's battlestaff slammed into the girl's head with a thunderous crack, and the girl slumped to the ground, stunned. Kogen held the end of his staff above the girl's throat. "Just because I admire you, fierce little one, does not mean I will allow you to harm one of my companions. Now we shall leave here, and you will never have to see us again." "That was a good strike," the girl said as she looked over Kogen from where she lay sprawled. "Oh, so the translators ARE working." Kodai shook his head. "That's surprising considering everything else around here." "Hmmmph," the girl looked over Kodai, then turned her regard back to Kogen. "You want to leave here?" "Yes, we have business elsewhere." Kogen didn't lower his guard. "Then it is a foursome." The girl moved away from Kogen slowly, then rolled to her feet. "Where are we going?" "We?" Kodai raised an eyebrow. The girl matched his gesture. "You whose culture includes woman warriors don't believe in seperating a wife and her husband, do you?" --/Northern wilderness, Norway, 1255 AD\___ Kodai buried his longtime companion Nigami in the heavy snows near the third seedling. Kogen and his wife Lehong had returned to her ancestral home in the mountains, to tend what had been the first of the seedlings they had planted. That left Kodai, alone, to carry the remaining two seedlings to where they could grow. Then would come a final task, searching this world for any of their kind that might have made it here, might have found their way free of the destruction of Jurai. With a brief prayer, Kodai turned to the West and continued his journey alone. __/Amazon Rainforest, 1298 AD\__ Looking back once at where the final seedling had taken root in the rich soil, Kodai swatted at the annoying cloud of insects and brushed gray hairs away from his eyes. To grow old at such an accelerated rate, just like one of the primitives of this world, seemed to be a cosmic joke at his expense. When he had started this journey, he had been one of the youngest knights to graduate from the Academy. A mere thirty-one of this planet's orbits around its primary. Now at the age of seventy-eight Earth-years, he still stood strong and proud, though he was neither as fast nor as enduring as he once had been. As he walked he wondered how Yosho had done with his colony. Was he alone now, the others having gone into hibernation? Was he surrounded by his native-born children, and by the next generation of the Jurai heritage? Or Kogen and Lehong. The tales of the warrior women and their tribal customs had enlivened many a night of travel. As had watching the forward Lehong slowly seduce and capture the heart of the shy navigator turned farmer Kogen. Did Kogen even now spin tales to his disbelieving children? Of an empire among the stars, of a paradise destroyed, of the sleeping hopes of rebirth buried beneath the mountains of Japan? Kodai hurt. He was old and he was tired, so very tired. So very lonely, and loneliness can be a pain beyond endurance that poisons the soul and deadens the will. Yet he remained true to his mission, had planted the seedlings, and now sought the completion of the remainder of his mission. Then, he thought with some longing, then he could rest. ___/Masaki Shrine, Hokkaido, Japan 1312 AD\_____ In a crystal pillar beneath the Shrine Of Rebirth, a young girl wept as another of Jurai blood died, alone and unloved in an cold and dark alien environment. This was not, however, why she wept. She wept because he had remained as faithful in death as he had in life, and that he had not, after all, had the chance to see his great-niece emerge from the crystal pillar. She wept because, no matter how great the spirit, or courage, or dedication, sometimes it is not enough. Sasami sent a telepathic message to Yosho through Tsunami. Kodai would not be returning home after all. __/Masaki Shrine, Hokkaido, Japan, 1942 AD\__ "Keep your wars far from here," advised Yosho. "We have had enough of wholescale slaughter, thank you, whatever the justification you might have." "It would be a shame," the lieutenant said with a bow, "to lose such an important ancient temple. Yet if we cannot store armaments in one of the few areas the Americans do not bomb..." "If such an attitude is prevelant, then the Japan I knew in my youth is already lost," said Yosho as he turned back to his devotions. __/Masaki Shrine, Hokkaido, Japan, 1976 AD\____ "Nobuyuki-san, you are about to marry my daughter Achika," Yosho intoned to the young engineer. "She has consented. Do you now swear to never reveal what you learn here tonight?" "You're not ninjas," Nobuyuki scoffed. "I know better than that. Yeah, I swear." "You're right, we are not ninjas." Yosho nodded his head. Shadows began to take shape, drawing a startled sound from Nobuyuki. "We are far more and far less than a clan of assassins." Achika was watching him out of the corner of her eye, and Nobuyuki was quite aware of this. "We are," Yosho said with a shrug, "refugees of a sort. We are from a land farther away than you think, known as Jurai..." __/Masaki Shrine, 1994 AD\___________ It had been implied permission, hadn't it? If he could get the keys from grandpa, he could explore the cave, right? Tenchi crept down the corridor. Both Shrines had seemed to call to him, asking him to enter and to explore their mysteries. Rebirth first, he thought. There were supposed to be all sorts of traps in the Demon's Tomb. When he came to the crystal pillar, he couldn't help but stare. Inside, as if trapped in amber, was a girl of about his own age. She was also the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He couldn't help but reach out and touch the cold surface of the crystal. When the girl's eyes snapped open, Tenchi felt as if he were about to have a heart attack. As it was, he fell down three times on the way back up to the Shrine's entrance. --------------------------------------------------- Hello, people. What to do if this wins the Bet? Tsunami is awake. She is to marry Tenchi. Ryoko awakens soon. She wants Tenchi. Kagato shows up. He wants Tsunami's power. Etc, Etc. Obvious differences from the OAVs, while the general plotline remains the same. Yes, I could've resisted using the Nichieju, but I wanted to keep a few options available...