-Chapter Two-
The Forbidden Cave

Tenchi ran toward the cave, laughing happily. At last he would get to
see the remains of the demon his ancestor had battled so long ago. He
couldn't wait to see it. He had grown up on the yarns his grandfather
had spun under the hanging lanterns of the Shrine gardens while the
cherry blossoms fell about them and the stars twinkled above them. Now,
at last, he would finally get to see the demon his grandfather had
spoken of.

"Curiosity killed the cat?" He laughed as ran. "Lucky for me I'm not a
cat!"

He quickly came upon the locked gate and paused with nervous wonder. As
he stood there, trying to get up the courage to open the gate, his mind
turned back to a time when he had been just a little boy.

He had been about five years old and had wandered up to the cave. His
grandfather had found him there and had not been very pleased.

"Tenchi! Boy!" Katsuhito had walked up to him with a stern look. "Why
must you come here time after time when you know it's not allowed."

"But, why is that, grampa?" Techi remembered asking.

His grandfather's reply had been most disturbing. "Because, Tenchi, a
demon sleeps here."

"A demon? No!" Tenchi had been a bit frightened, but also a bit
curious.

"It's true." Katsuhito crouched down so he could be face to face with
his grandson. "Now, I want you to listen carefully because what I am
about to tell you really happened. It was a long time ago. A demon came
here from out of the sky. Its strength was enormous and terrible. It
burned our houses, destroyed everything. People feared the demon because
of its terrible powers."

"What happened to the demon?" Tenchi asked, both his fear and curiosity
piqued by his grandfather's words.

"One day, a ship like a dragon appeared in the heavens. On its back rode
a mighty samurai. He fought the demon using a sword containing great
spiritual powers. Now the demon sleeps, held prisoner by his sword. That
samurai was Yosho. Your ancestor Tenchi. Remember your name and what it
means: Heaven and Earth. You must remember, and respect your ancestor.
Remember."

Tenchi's mind returned to the present to find that his body had already
opened the gate.

Tenchi stepped into the cave and eventually found the small cabinet
which had been built to protect the sword. He opened the cabinet door
and saw the great sword his legendary ancestory had once used. Reaching
in, he gave it a couple of tugs. It finally pulled free. He drew it from
its scabbard. A look of annoyed disappointment came over his face.

"It's just a rusty old piece of junk!" He glared at it. "Give me a
break. The sword that cuts through a rock?" It looked more like it could
get broken by a rock than break one. As he lowered it in resignation, it
struck a rock with old markings on it. As expected, it broke into
fragments. But it also split the rock in two. The two halves fell apart.
Tenchi gasped in amazement, then noticed the cave's entrace was now
blocked by a stone. "What do I do now? Okay, think genius." He prompted
himself. He turned and looked. Behind him, where there had been only a
rock wall a moment ago, was now a passage leading deeper into the cave.

"Oh, a passageway. I wonder where this goes?" He wondered at first how
to get to the bottom, then noticed the series of designs etched into the
otherwise smooth slope. They were big enough to put his feet into. He
could use them. He stepped into one, his foot ankle deep in water.

"That's cold." He complained, stumbling back in surprise and hitting his
head on the low ceiling behind him. "Ow, my head!" he complained. "I...
AAAAAH!" he suddenly amended as he lost his footing and tumbled,
unceremoniously to the bottom of the slope. The hilt of the ancient
sword follwed, hitting him on the hit. "OUCH!" He stood up and grasped
the hilt, unsure of why but feeling a bit safer with it in his hands.

Small spheres of light danced about. They popped about his head, trying
to scare him off and not particularly succeeding. He kept moving until
he noticed that there was light up ahead. For a short while he thought
he had opened the gates to hell by mistake. But this, to his relief,
proved to be wrong. "Phew. It's just a giant glowing light. That's all.
Time to go..." he voice faltered as his gaze felt upon the skeletal
remains resting upon what looked to be an old altar. "A demon sleeps
here. It wasn't just a legend." He heard a noise and was startled at
first, until he realized he'd just dropped the sword hilt in his
surprise.

As he bent to retrieve it, a skeletal hand clasped his arm.
Tenchi froze in terror as the demon awakened from its ancient slumber.
The demon caressed his face and leaned forward. For some strange reason
Tenchi thought the thing was going to kiss him. He knew this was utterly
absurd. But for some reason he was absolutely sure that this is what it
was going to do. Before it could get close enough, however, there was a
sudden flash of light and both the demon and Tenchi stumbled backward.

Tenchi started running and didn't stop until he was back to the room in
the cave where he'd found the sword. Unable to close the wall back up
with his bare hands, he quickly noticed the severed rock. It had marking
on it similar to those on the wall. Mabye...  He pulled the two halves
togther. At first nothing happened. But when he tied the halves together
with a tree vine, the wall closed back up.

Tenchi sat there, panting breathlessly.

"I'm gonna give those keys back to grampa and do as many chores as he
says!" he decided.

As he headed home, he utterly failed to notice the beam of light which
shot up into the night sky.

***

Far off in the heavens, an escape pod drifted through the darkness.
Within the gleaming metal walls, its batlike occupant slept in ancient
slumber. The cryo unit in which he slept had begun the thawing process
late the previous night as it had been programmed to.

The creature shivered, violently, as his body temperature returned to
normal. He felt weak and very ill. His heart was pounding, trying to
keep up with the newly increased flow of blood through his veins.

Once his body had reached a warm enough temperature, the computer the
scientist had implanted in his brain to control his new eyes and
regulate the nerve impulses to and from his cybernetic arm switched on.
He opened his eyes and looked around him. "Computer?" He asked.

A computer switched on. "Its nice to see you up and about." The
computer sounded incredibly cheerful.

"Thanks. Now, mind telling me where I am?"

"You're in an escape pod. We are currently heading to Earth to
rendezvous with Ryoko. There is another vessel also heading in that
direction. We have been monitoring from an undetectable distance for
some time now."

"Now that makes sense. It were close to monitor them, how can we be
undetectable." He looked around at the various gadgets. "Got a coffee
maker around here? I'm freezing."

"Correction, you are recouperating from hybernation sickness.

"Well, either way I'd like some coffee."

A panel in the wall opened to reveal a seven hundred year old cup of
stale coffee.

"Got anything fresh?" He sighed.

"Just kidding!" The computer opened a panel next to the first one,
revealing a fresh steaming hot cup of coffee.

Taking the first sip caused the batlike creature to burn his mouth
slightly. It nearly dropped the cup in surprise.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" the computer apologized. "I should've warned you. Your
body isn't used to heat right now, so you have to be a bit careful."

"Now it tells me." The creature mumbled, irritably. "So, where's the
burn ointment." He reached into his pocket and found a tube of medicated
burn cream. "Never mind. I've got it." He applied some to the inside of
his lip, first making sure it was okay to do so. He wasn't surprised
when the burns vanished instantly. The scientist who had raised him had
been quite brilliant. "How soon until we reach..."

"Earth."

"Hmm... Pretty boring name for a planet."

"We'll be arriving in two days." the computer informed her. "The land
mass where we will be landing is know, to the inhabitants as Japan."