Tenchi Muyo:  Dragon and Crane - Pt.1


     It ripped its way through the heavens like a vengeful spirit, trailing
smoke and fire in its wake, and filling the peaceful calm of the day with
desperate, tortured screaming.  Its assailant floated patiently in a slow
orbit around the area of descent, taking readings and retracting its cooling
gunports, the black metal of its hull reflecting the starlight with a cold
gleam.  The pilot's fingers folded together, and her lips pressed to them in
contemplation, slowly turning up in a smile as she leaned back and watched
her victim's blazing course through the atmosphere.  Blue readings from the
controls flashed along the hard, pale lines of her face, and she closed her
eyes.
     "Pray that the fall kills you", she said softly, opening her eyes
halfway, "because I'm all too eager to finish the job."
***
     Morning always came early to the Masaki shrine, and Tenchi had awoken
at sunrise to start the day's chores.  He yawned sleepily and searched
through his closet for appropriate clothing, deciding on a t-shirt and a
pair of long shorts.  He dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast, his
mouth watering at the scents wafting from the kitchen.  Sasami greeted him
cheerily when he arrived, and set a plate full of eggs and bacon before him.
     "At least I have your breakfasts to look forward to in the morning,
Sasami" he said, looking about for a pair of chopsticks.  "Um..do we have
any chopsticks, perchance?"
     "Not today, Tenchi!" said Sasami, giggling.  "Today, you're having an
authentic mid-American farmer's breakfast, and you have to eat it with
this."  She handed him a fork with a smile, then went about filling the
other plates.  Tenchi stared at the fork in confusion.
     "Does this come with instructions?", he asked, poking and moving his
breakfast around with it.  Sasami giggled and shook her head, laying an
additional six strips of bacon in the hot pan.  Tenchi sighed and managed to
stab a bite on the end of his fork, bringing it up to his mouth.  However,
he was unable to put it inside, as it was open only for shock when he saw a
tousled-haired, sleepy-eyed Ryoko in a "Hello Kitty" t-shirt enter the
kitchen.
     "R..Ryoko?" he stammered.  "What..what are you doing up so early?  Is
the world coming to an end or something?"
     Ryoko yawned and rumpled Tenchi's hair, taking a seat beside him.  "Oh,
good morning to you too, smart-ass", she said sarcastically.  "No, the
reason why I'm up so early..(yawn)..is because of your Grandfather's
apparent need for a dueling partner.  He claims that he's up to trying out
some advanced moves, and needs an opponent skillful enough to deal with
them."  Sasami laid out a plate for Ryoko as well, who began to attack the
food with wild abandon.  Tenchi and Sasami both were shocked at her
appetite.
     "Well, that's..nice" said Tenchi, taking a long-delayed bite.  Sasami
removed the bacon from the pan and gave Ryoko three more slices, whcih she
devoured just as quickly.  She burped loudly afterwards, and eyes Tenchi's
full plate hungrily.  Tenchi gulped and pulled it closer to him.
     "I like your shirt, Ryoko" said Sasami.  "Where'd you get it?"
     "Hmm?  Oh, this old thing?" she said, slinking her fingers toward's
Tenchi's plate.  "Mihoshi loaned this to me because all of Tenchi's shirts
are dirty.  All except the one he has on, of course."  She eyed him
critically and circled around his chest with a finger.  "However, he can
make it up to me by sharing his bacon.  You gonna eat all of that, Tenchi?"
     "Well, I..I had planned on it" he said, blushing when he felt her
finger trace down his chest and up his arm.  Ryoko smiled softly and winked
at him.
     "Let Tenchi eat his breakfast, Ryoko!  I'll make you some more in a
minute!" said Sasami, shaking her head and sighing.  Ryoko sat back up and
stretched, then stood and laid her hands on Tenchi's shoulders.
     "Oh, I suppose I can wait until lunchtime to share Tenchi's meal with
him" she said, giving him a gentle massage.  "He's a growing boy, and needs
his strength after all.  Besides, the old man's really chomping at the bit
to have that duel.  Maybe we can get together later and play, Tenchi?"  She
grinned and gave him a hug, making Tenchi blush anew.  "Thanks for
breakfast, kid.  And come get me when you're through with your chores,
Tenchi-darling."  She waved and left him then, teleporting away from the
kitchen.
     Tenchi shook his head and took another bite, finding it cold.  Sasami
poured him some orange juice and took away her empty plate.  Despite the
cooling of his breakfast, Tenchi succeeded in finishing it and rose to
leave, taking his plate and putting it into the hot, soapy water Sasami had
drawn for washing.  She smiled at him and waved goodbye as he left, putting
the finishing touches on a large stack of apple-cinnamon pancakes.
***
     Tenchi took up his harvesting basket and slipped his arms through the
straps, feeling something shuffle inside.  Ryo-Ohki popped her head out of
the basket and meowed softly, blinking her eyes curiously at him.  He
laughed and shook his head, then began to walk out to the fields for
garden-tending.
     "Oh, I suppose you can come along, Ryo-Ohki" he said, grinning.  "And
who knows, maybe you'd like to sample a carrot or twenty for me, hmm?"  She
meowed happily, and he laughed again.
     The fields surrounding the shrine were vast and green, bordered by
walls of hand-laid volcanic rock and huge, primeval trees that might have
served to shade wandering ronin in the days when Japan was still a feudal
empire.  The black earth beneath Tenchi's feet was rich and fertile, and the
perfect vegetables he drew from the soil were testaments to its powers.  He
brought the earth up to his nose and breathed in deeply of its scent,
thinking that today's yard work wasn't so bad as he had originally imagined
it to be.
     Ryo-Ohki was sitting happily upon a huge mound of carrots, munching
contented little bites from one, then another, as a professional food-taster
might.  Tenchi sat beside her and wiped off his brow, patting her head and
laying back on the rock wall.
     "So calm today", he said.  Ryo-Ohki meowed in agreement, holding a
carrot up and chewing on the tip.
     Sighing,Tenchi closed his eyes for a quick rest.  Then he heard a roar,
and screaming, and felt the very earth beneath him begin to shake as if an
earthquake were coming.  Ryo-Ohki dropped the carrot and howled in anguish,
looking up at the sky.  Tenchi followed her gaze to a firey, streaking comet
that was fast approaching the field.  He screamed and grabbed Ryo-Ohki
roughly, who was still howling as if her very soul were being rent.
     He ran as fast as he could, leaping over the wall and into the
concealing depths of a nearby forest.  Behind him, he heard the comet
approaching with a building roar, all the while desperately trying to hold
on to Ryo-Ohki, who squirmed and nipped at his fingers.  To Tenchi,it seemed
as if she was trying to get back to the field, but his grip held her fast.
That was, until she bit him hard enough to draw blood, and he dropped her
with a shout of pain.
     "Goddamnit, Ryo-Ohki!  Come back!" he cried, watching as she bolted off
towards the field.  He saw her leap into the air and change into her
spaceship form, speeding towards the flaming comet.  In awe, he watched as
she clashed with it in the sky, slowing its progress and crying out from the
strain.  Slowly, the object began to cool, the flames burning out to reveal
a second ship, much like Ryo-Ohki in respects.  However, its hull was
charred and shattered, and one of its upper spires was missing.  Its control
bubble was also leaking smoke through long, jagged cracks.
     Gently, Ryo-Ohki lowered the craft to the field, then switched back to
her normal form.  The second ship meowed weakly and changed as well, but not
before lowering a tractor beam to safely vacate its pilot.  All of this
Tenchi saw, and he ran to the field to see what he could do to help.He
leaped over the wall and kneeled beside Ryo-Ohki, who was busy licking the
wounded cabbit she had aided.  Her eyes held a hurt, anguished look, and she
wailed softly at Tenchi.
     "Ryo-Ohki, don't worry" he said tenderly.  "We'll get him to Washu, all
right?  She'll know what to do."
     She nodded and meowed softly.  Tenchi ran over to the still form of the
pilot, whose back was turned to him.  At first, he feared the pilot dead, as
he could discern no movement.  Then he heard her cough rackingly, and start
to stir.  H got to his knees beside her and held her head.
     "It's going to be all right" he said softly.  Then his eyes widened in
shock and recognition.  "Nagi?", he asked.  Nagi coughed again and nodded,
blood trickling from her nose and mouth.
     "Took..your damn time", she managed.  Then, with a moan, she fainted in
his arms.