TENCHI MUYO: LIGHTHAWK LEGEND
Book 1: Destiny's Children
Chapter 1: Funaho Awakens

    Okayama. The colors of the rural Japanese town had changed from
snow-covered white to cherry blossom pink with the arrival of spring. New
plants flowered from the old and life was returning to the Earth.
Tenchi Masaki hopped off the Tokyo inbound bus and began to walk home. It
had been a long day, as many a day had been, only consisting of school,
work, and sleep. He sighed a heavy-hearted sigh and plodded forth. He was an
upper-age teenager with short, black hair and gentle brown eyes. His black
school uniform contrasted drastically with the atmosphere of rebirth that
surrounded him.
    As he passed the lake near his house, he paused. There was that strange
tree, that tree that grew right in the middle of the lake on an island just
big enough for itself. A thick, worn rope had remained tied around it ever
since Tenchi could remember, as had the paper charms that hung from it.
There was that feeling again; the feeling that something wasn't quite right,
the feeling that told him that life had not always been this way, that in
some time long forgotten, he had been a different person altogether. It had
more than once made him consider the possibility of reincarnation, and then
dismiss it as he did all things supernatural.
    He deposited his books at the entrance to his house and announced to the
open skylight, "Dad! Grandpa! I'm home!"
    As his father, Noboyuki, responded in kind, Tenchi proceeded to his room
to get out of the heavily starched uniform and into something more
comfortable. There it was again. Something was missing, something that
seemed as if it should have happened, but never had in his entire life.
Tenchi put a hand to his forehead and entered his well-kept room. Maybe he
was going crazy.
    He stripped off his clothes and stepped into the bathroom for a quick
shower. It was with him constantly, this nagging feeling. All the things
that used to entertain him: video games, anime, bug catching, going on
outings with his friends, they didn't appeal to him anymore.
    How strange, he thought as he reached for a towel. Somehow, his life
seemed as if it were very normal. Dreadfully normal.

<<>>

    "Hey Dad, I'm going out for a walk!" Tenchi called.
    From somewhere deep in his study, Noboyuki yelled "Okay! Be back in time
for dinner!"
    Tenchi grimaced. He knew that his father meant well, but his cooking
skills were frightfully sub par.
    Tenchi found that a walk through the forest path to his grandfather's
training ground proved mind-clearing. The cherry blossoms continued to mount
up until it seemed that the ground had bought its own pink carpet. Tenchi
stared in awe at the beauty that surrounded him. Even a few camellias
floated though the air from the large trees in the depths of the woods.
    He soon came upon the dirt path bordered by stones that immediately
preceded the training area. The uncounted cherry blossoms were greater in
number here, outperforming their 80-foot counterparts. Tenchi soon spotted
the dense wooden stick that served as his training sword. Why his
grandfather insisted on him learning the ancient arts, he did not know, but
it kept him sharp and in good condition for school fights.
    Tenchi then saw something else. An ornate wooden handle was sticking out
of a very old oak tree. That had never been there before! Tenchi gave it a
long, studious look. Perhaps it was part of a new training routine? He moved
in for a closer view.

<<>>

    The spirit fire burned brightly in Grandfather Katsuhito's shrine. He
knelt in ceremonial robes and prayed for the usual insight and strength.
    When the fire began to burn low, he finally doused it and walked outside
to retrieve a shovel and wooden bucket for the ashes. As he gently scooped
them in, he suddenly jolted upright, dropping the bucket and shovel with a
loud clak!     What was this? A vision?
    "No, Funaho!" Katsuhito gasped and rushed to his study. Sure enough, the
sword hilt was gone. "No, Funaho!" he repeated. "He is not ready!"

<<>>

    As Tenchi moved closer, the strange stick began to glow faintly with a
mysterious blue light. He recoiled. "What is this?" he exclaimed.
    Suddenly, a huge shadow made its way over the horizon, spreading across
the ground; towards, then past Tenchi. This was really starting to get
strange! Tenchi dared to look up. What he saw defied reason. A large
structure, at least as tall as the Tokyo Tower, hovered above him. From its
yellow, shining center protruded four white spires which were pointed at a
slight downward angle, and a vertical fifth spire that was partly covered in
some sort of grey substance.
Trees blew this way and that and the cherry blossoms all fell in a gigantic
heap. Tenchi extricated himself from the mess and just stared at the awesome
form. Then, a light beam protruded from the bottom of the vessel and a human
figure descended inside it. Tenchi quickly hid behind the remaining bushes.
Had aliens arrived to take over Earth? Was this a new military weapon? These
questions were left unanswered as the being touched down.
    She was not human after all. Her ears were in an odd rectangular shape,
stripes covered her aging face, gray hair was tied back behind her head, and
she wore unusual black and blue clothing with a navy cloak.
    Then, Tenchi saw the strangest thing yet. The massive ship reduced in
size, becoming smaller and lowering itself to the ground at the same time.
It then proceeded to change shape! A form not unlike that of a rabbit and
barely the size of the average fist plopped to the ground and . . .meowed?!
    What's going on here?!! Tenchi almost thought aloud.
    The alien spoke. "No Ken-Ohki, this isn't a jurisdiction of the Galaxy
Police. That's why we're here."
    Galaxy Police?
    She popped out a strange device and turned it on. She then gasped,
jumped a full 20 feet away and drew a strange weapon that resembled a sword.
She pointed it at Tenchi's hiding place and called, "Come out! I know you're
there!"
There was no way that Tenchi was coming out of that bush unarmed. If only he
could make a dive for the wooden sword . . .
    "I said 'come out'! You're not dealing with your everyday bounty hunter,
you know!"
Tenchi gulped. He knew.
    The female alien seemed to expect a response, then whipped out a laser
pistol and reduced Tenchi's wood sword to a cinder. "You're up against Nagi,
intergalactically feared renegade and keeper of the 17,000 Warrants!" She
smiled.     "Unfortunately for you, you've become #17,001!"
    Oh boy.

<<>>

    Katsuhito shouldered his katana and rushed toward the place where he had
seen Ken-Ohki. He didn't know if he would arrive in time, or if he could be
of any help, but he knew Tenchi couldn't handle a bounty hunter unarmed.

<<>>

    Tenchi raced behind a rock as shot after shot ricocheted across the
forest. Grass caught fire and the beautiful cherry blossoms burned to the
ground. Tenchi made a grab for the glowing wood stick embedded in the tree
trunk and was stopped by a shot that quite literally passed right before his
eyes.
    "You really don't think that I got to be intergalactically feared by
letting my prey escape, do you?"
    Tenchi shook his head carefully, sweating bullets, his entire body a
living statue.
    Nagi ran her hand through her long, grey hair. "All right, Space Pirate
Ryoko, you are under arrest for the willful destruction of . . ."
    Ryoko?
    "Tenchi!" Katsuhito yelled. "Take the Tenchi and run!"
    Tenchi gave him a quizzical look. "What?"
    Katsuhito shook his head. "Take the sword hilt and run!"
    Tenchi snatched the ornately carved handle out of the tree and ran like
the wind. Nagi was about to follow when suddenly Katsuhito blocked her path.
    "Would you refuse a challenge from me?" he inquired.
    Nagi smiled. "I suppose a little warm-up will do me some good."
    The only safe place Tenchi could think of was the Demon Tomb. Though
legend told that an ancient demon slept there, Tenchi was not one to believe
it. It was the only solid rock structure nearby, so it was the ideal hiding
place.
Tenchi rushed in and put the hilt in his pocket. It was very dark, and the
humidity was way up. Tenchi wiped his forehead and slowed his pace. This
tunnel was a lot longer than it looked! Tenchi couldn't even see where he
had come in!
    Okay, don't panic Tenchi, he thought. He could smell fresh air and see a
faint light ahead. That must be the way out!

<<>>

    Nagi landed and wiped blood from a cut on her chin. "You are quite
skilled, old man. Your chi is unusually strong for an Earthling."
    Katsuhito grimaced. He had been hiding it, but he was exhausted. This
she-witch had no real sense of her own chi, but made up for it in sheer
technique! She wasn't invincible, but she was good, darn good.
    Katsuhito powered up his chi again, but the Blue Shield Wings didn't
appear. It suddenly hit him: his Jurai power had finally faded away. Funaho,
in her last attempt to reshape destiny, must have used an enormous amount of
power. Katsuhito could only guess what other changes would occur . . .
    "Hey, old man! Are you just going to stand there forever?" Nagi
inquired.
    Katsuhito responded with his last trump card. "How dare you address
Yosho, First Prince of Jurai in such a manner!"
    Nagi's eyes went wide for a second, but then returned to their unusual
sneering stare. "You must be going senile! There's no way you could be
Yosho! And even if you were, why would you be helping the Space Pirate Ryoko
escape?"
    The realization suddenly dawned on Katsuhito. "The Space Pirate Ryoko?"
    He dissolved into a fit of laughter, leaving Nagi wondering what was so
funny.
    Katsuhito calmed down a bit and explained. "I've locked Ryoko away for
her crimes! You've been chasing my grandson, Tenchi!"
    Nagi suddenly felt very foolish. "Hmph. I detected Ryoko's energy
nearby, so when I saw him, I thought it might have been Ryoko in disguise."
    Katsuhito couldn't help but laugh hysterically at this foolish turn of
events.
    Nagi began to grow impatient. "So tell me, old man, are you going to
show me where you trapped Ryoko or are you going to sit there laughing all
day?"
    Katsuhito recovered. "I see you still don't believe that I'm Yosho."
    Nagi laughed. "If you're Lord Yosho, then I'm the Queen of Jurai."
    "Well, I suppose you can see her." Katsuhito grimaced, shouldering his
katana. He pointed into the scorched woodland. "Her tomb is that way."
    Nagi gave him a questionable look. "Funny," she said. "That's where your
grandson went."
    Katsuhito was suddenly dead serious. "Are you sure?"
    Nagi shrugged. "Yeah, why?"
    Katsuhito groaned. "I should have known; the Demon Tomb is the only
solid structure nearby! Of course Tenchi would hide there! Now, he may
release that she-devil once again!"
    Nagi's calm eyes went wide with fear. "We've got to stop him!"

<<>>

    Tenchi looked in awe as he reached the interior of the Demon's Tomb. The
room was an enormous circle with a diameter of at least 200 meters, with a
circle-mazelike pattern cut into the black marble and filled with small
rivulets of water. In the center was a small pool, out of which rose a
fifty-foot column. On this fifty-foot column was an amazing assemblage of
circuitry.
    As Tenchi walked towards it, he saw that a woman was trapped in there.
No, it was another alien! She had rectangular, elongated ears, a narrow face
topped by a large amount of pale green hair that spiked itself down just
past her bare shoulders. She was completely naked, except for conveniently
placed metal supporters that left nothing to the imagination.
    Tenchi gulped. Was this what his grandfather had been keeping from him?
How unusual to keep a helpless girl trapped like that. How long had she been
here? As Tenchi neared the column, he dared to touch it.
    <Tenchi . . .>
    He recoiled instantly. "What?!" Tenchi gulped. "W-who's there?" He
looked at the girl in the column.
    <Help me, Tenchi . . .>
    Tenchi put on a resolute face. No matter who she was or what she was
here for, no one deserved to be locked up like this. He circled the column
looking for some sort of control device.
    <Tenchi! Hurry!>
    A transparent diamond floated toward him. Maybe this is it, Tenchi
thought. He ran his hands over the diamond and the column started to crack!
A red light was flashing in the diamond.
    <Tenchi!>
    The green light that permeated the room grew brighter as Tenchi worked
feverishly. More and more cracks appeared as the chamber shook and rumbled.
Suddenly, the column exploded into pieces, and Ryoko was set free.

<<>>

    Katsuhito and Nagi had arrived too late. They both saw the rock
formation rumble and shake with green, then red energy.
    "Oh no!" Katsuhito groaned. He should have told Tenchi a long time ago,
but now it was too late.
    The entire formation erupted skyward, and out of it soared Ryoko, in a
white and red dress with a yellow and green coat, carrying an unconscious
Tenchi in one hand. She set him down under a tree and turned to face
Katsuhito and Nagi as rock and shale began to fall earthward.
    "Good to see you, Yosho. How've things been going on Jurai?"
    Katsuhito frowned. "I wouldn't know. I haven't been there in the past
700 years."
    Ryoko smiled fiendishly. "Oh that's right, I broke your ship, didn't I?
So, what about you Nagi? How's it goin'?"
Nagi's face was the epitome of astonishment. "You . . . you really are
Yosho!" Ryoko laughed. "That's right! First Crown Prince of Jurai, you're
lookin' at him!"
    Katsuhito drew his katana. "I believe we have a duel to finish."
    Ryoko grinned and gathered more red energy into a crackling ball in her
palm. She then closed her fist and the energy elongated into a beam sabre.
"I believe we do."
    Katsuhito leapt at her with a battle yell and swung the katana with
lightning speed, but Ryoko was no longer there. She reappeared behind him
and slashed with the beam sabre. Only Katsuhito's quick reflexes saved him
from a mortal wound as only his shirt was torn open down the back. He leapt
into a tree to recover only to find Ryoko above, firing crimson lightning
into the branches.
    As Katsuhito dodged and ducked, he knew that he could no longer
overpower the eternally young Ryoko without the Tenchi sword, but he could
not activate it without his Jurai power.
    Ryoko vaulted off the ground in an astounding aerial leap and fired off
a gigantic bolt of energy, but it was blocked by Nagi's force net. "So,
decided to join in?" Ryoko taunted.
    Nagi frowned. "I may not be a match for your power, Ryoko, but I will
not watch you kill the First Crown Prince of Jurai in such a cowardly
manner."
    Cowardly?! Ryoko thought. He challenged me and I attacked! What's so
cowardly about that?
    Nagi yelled. "Attack, Ken-Ohki!"
The spaceship descended from above and fired an earth-shattering blast that
demolished what was left of the rock tomb. Dust flew everywhere and Nagi and
Katsuhito had to shield themselves.
    "Meow, meow, meow!" Ken-Ohki called.
    Nagi smiled. "Good work, Ken-Ohki"
    A red beam sabre cut across the sky faster than Nagi could follow and
one of Ken-Ohki's four spires fell off and into the trees. Ken-Ohki
screeched in pain and fell earthward, landing far off in the woods.
    Nagi gasped as Ryoko teleported right in front of her. "Nice try, Nagi,
but your cabbit isn't nearly as strong as I am."
    Ryoko then delivered a brutal punch that sent Nagi careening back into
the bushes. Katsuhito was suddenly behind her, katana raised high. Ryoko
spun like lightning and cut his sword clean in two. Katsuhito gasped.
    Ryoko smiled. "I win."

<<>>

    Tenchi's dream was strange. He saw himself as an infant in his mother's
shoulder harness, being carried by the Demon's Tomb. The infant reached out
towards it.
    "What's the matter, Tenchi?" his mother asked. "Do you see a monster?"
    As Tenchi now looked through the eyes of adulthood, he knew that it was
no monster he had seen. That green-haired beauty that had been in the cave
had said hello in spirit form.
    Time flew, and he saw himself staring at the cave, now a toddler. Ryoko
sat near the wall unseen, smiling upon him.
As time passed again, he saw a moment he remembered well. When his mother
died when he was six, he had gone to the entrance of the cave to weep. He
had always felt a presence, and now he saw a forlorn Ryoko, with her hand on
his young head, trying to comfort him in vain. She probably didn't know
then, but she had helped. Even though Tenchi had been alone, he had felt a
comforting aura, and now he knew who that had been.
    He saw many such episodes of his past, Ryoko's watchful eye always
guarding him. But he also saw a longing, a need for him to see her, to play
with her and not by himself.
    Then, he saw a scene from a few months ago, when he had said his
goodbyes to his childhood playground and headed for Tokyo. Ryoko had been
there too, weeping silently at the thought of Tenchi leaving her.
    Tenchi felt a tug at his heart. How very sad, that he had not even
acknowledged her over all those years and she still cared for him. Then, he
felt a warm, encompassing feeling, as though he were in complete security.
    "Understand her, Tenchi." a voice said. "She is a Space Pirate, and a
Devil Princess, but she loves you very much. Help her to love others as well
. . ."

<<>>

    When Tenchi awoke, a strange scene greeted him. Nagi lay unconscious in
the bushes a few hundred yards away. His Grandpa was at Ryoko's swordpoint,
and the sun setting in the west cast a blood red light over the remains of
the Demon Tomb. Without even realizing it, Tenchi knew exactly what he had
to do, almost as if it had been ingrained in his blood. He rose and drew the
Master Key, Tenchi.
    "So old man, it ends like this." Ryoko mused. She sat atop a tree branch
with her beam sabre perilously close to Katsuhito's throat. "You fought your
last battle with a metal sword and a washed-up bounty hunter. Is this the
best you can do? Where's your beam sabre?"
    Katsuhito cleared his throat. "Ryoko I have long since lost my Jurai
powers, and the Tenchi now belongs to-"
    "Enough, old man." Ryoko stated. "You're going to pay for locking me in
that tomb for 700 years!"
    She raised the beam sabre as if to administer the final blow, but then
paused. A sound had permeated the air, a sound like that of a beam sabre
formation. But it carried a huge chi vibration, stronger than any Ryoko had
felt before.
She knew who it was without even having to look. "Tenchi?"
    Tenchi stood a few feet away holding the Master Key Sabre in his hands.
The sword's ornately carved handle that had been embedded with three gems
sprouted a beautiful, shining blue light blade that caused the air around it
to hum with power.
    Katsuhito nodded in approval. So, Tenchi had much Jurai power in him.
The boy had not pressed a switch or button to activate it. The Master Key
was activated by the power of one's spirit.
    "Ryoko," Tenchi said through gritted teeth. "Let my Grandpa go."
Ryoko, for once, looked stunned. "Tenchi . . . , but why? He caused me 700
years of suffering all because . . . because . . ." She couldn't remember.
    "I'll tell you why!" Katsuhito yelled. "700 years ago, you attacked
Jurai and killed many innocent people in a quest to control Tsunami!"
    Tenchi looked confused. "Jurai? Tsunami?" Katsuhito paid him no heed.
Tenchi shook his head and restated. "Let my Grandpa go, Ryoko; or I'll have
to destroy you."
    Nagi had been watching. She was amazed by the look of hurt on Ryoko's
face, as if someone close to her had betrayed her. And that boy . . .
wielding the Master Key with such power; there was no doubt that he was now
First Crown Prince of Jurai.
    A tear went down Ryoko's face as she dissipated the beam sabre and began
to float into the air. In a small whisper, one that a child would use when
saying something inappropriate, she said "I'm sorry, Tenchi."
With that, she disappeared.
    Tenchi sighed and closed the Master Key. Katsuhito walked over to Nagi
and helped her up. "Will you still chase her across the galaxy, Nagi?" he
asked.
    Nagi smiled. "No. Didn't you see? The Ryoko I know would never have
backed down because of that! It seems she has changed for the better. I
leave in peace. Come, Ken-Ohki!"
    The cabbit was now healed and bounded out of the forest with cheerful
meows. It transformed into a ship and was off with Nagi in the blink of an
eye.
    "Thank God that's over." Tenchi said.
    "I think it is." Katsuhito said, throwing his broken katana to the
ground.
    Tenchi looked shocked. "Why not fix it, Grandpa?"
    Katsuhito turned. "Because she won."
    As the sun set on the two men who slowly made their way home, Tenchi
didn't feel that emptiness that was usually his constant companion. This was
who he was.

Disclaimer:
    This is a work of fan fiction and uses characters and situations from
the Tenchi Muyo TV series, copyrighted under Pioneer. Also, some characters
may come from the No Need For Tenchi graphic novel series, copyright Viz
Comics. I take no credit for the base characters and plot, but all
developments as of the time frame of my story are of my own design. If by
some strange chance my plot is parallel to another author's fanfiction, I
wish to be notified. For comments and information, E-mail me at
bkvhw@earthlink.net