This is a new Tenchi Muyo! fic. It is in no way related to Bushido Muyo!, my other fic. As you already know, it is on a western theme. Even so, I have not changed any of the names involved in the storyline. The locations, although they are described in a purely fictional way, have the same names as their real life counterparts. Have fun reading! By the way, Tenchi Muyo! and all the characters contained therin are the property of Pioneer and AIC. So, I give up all claims that this is all my idea. The theme and story are mine, but the characters and their personalities are not. So, should Pioneer or AIC get their hands on this, I ask them not to sue me into oblivion. All right? Let's get going! ******************************************************************************** Saddle Up, Tenchi! by Jeremy "Kraken" Acord azhrei701@hotmail.com Episode 1 Kyoto, though not as big as cities such as Tokyo, was still a sizeable one. It sat between a dusty plain and somewhat more fertile land. On the more dusty side, there was a small bar & hotel, owned by a foreigner, an old man named Katsuhito. His son, Nobiyuki, worked as an architecht, and his grandson, Tenchi, worked in the feilds as a hired hand. After his work was done, Tenchi would come and help out around the bar, tending bar, bouncing, showing guests to their rooms, and other odd jobs. He was not exeptionally strong for his age, but his other talents made up for a lack of physical prowess. Tenchi was always either tending to feilds or hanging around with drunks. Had his mother not been dead, she would have shot Nobiyuki and Katsuhito both by now. Tenchi had arrived at the bar early, before the usual flood of guests had commenced. The bar had, at the moment, only one occupant. A woman. She wore riding clothes, Tenchi could see only a small bag at her feet, and she was not wearing chaps. She had on a brown leather jacket, under which was a more loose and flowing white blouse. Her pants were Levi jeans, a new type of pants that had just recently hit the market in Tokyo, as Tenchi had heard. She did not wear boots, but rather drab moccasin-like shoes, made from a tough looking material that Tenchi could not identify, as he somehow doubted they were leather. On each wrist she wore a gold bracelet, on the inside of which was a small red gem. From underneath her wide brimmed hat peeked spikes of light blue hair, a color that Tenchi, from his studies of art, recognized as cyan. Tenchi thought this hair color strange, but decided not to pry. Her hand went to her hip when she noticed Tenchi was there. She seemed to be reaching for a gun, though there was none that the boy could see. She seemed to ease when Tenchi rounded the bar to stand before her. "What can I do for you, Miss?" he asked. She tilted her head back slightly, fixing Tenchi with a pair of eerily blazing yellow eyes. She held out a glass to Tenchi, a small amount of a light brown liquid still pooled at the bottom. "I'll have another of this." She said crisply. She had obviously not been here long. Tenchi closed his eyes breifly and waved the glass under his nose. His eyes opened, and he set to mixing the drink. He held it out to the girl at the bar, in his right hand. With his left, he quickly penciled in the drink he had just served. Ambidexterosity was one of Tenchi's talents. Ryoko took the glass with her left, then firmly grasped Tenchi's hand. "My name is Ryoko. What's yours?" she fixed him with a pair of eerily bright yellow eyes, which seemed to glow as if her soul was afire. Tenchi put down the pencil, turned and shook her hand back. "It's Tenchi Masaki. Pleased to meet you." "How long have you been here, Tenchi Masaki?" Tenchi did not pause, but he was already trying to puzzle out this woman's sudden interest in him. "I've lived in Kyoto for fifteen, maybe sixteen years." "Hmm. And how old are you?" "Sixteen." Ryoko cocked an eyebrow. "A little young to be tending bar." "You look a little young to be drinking." "I'm older than I look." Tenchi didn't bother to ask how old. He knew he wouldn't get a beleivable answer. After a long pause, Ryoko gulped down the rest of her drink. "I need a room." "Do you have the money?" She leaned forward. "You saying you don't think I have it?" "No, just trying to save you trouble. It's a lot safer to camp out than go into debt around here." Ryoko leaned forward a little more. "What, you gonna come after me if I don't pay?" She cocked her head, and Tenchi realized her face was quite literally inches from his. His heart skipped a beat, and the thought sprung and stuck in his mind that she was remarkably pretty. Tenchi, flustered, became more evasive. "Maybe. You never know." She sat back, and smiled. "I'd like that. You're cute." Tenchi kept a straight face, but he blushed, almost imperceptibly. "Thanks." Ryoko passed him some money. "For the room." Once more, her eyes, in the failing light, seemed aglow with some strange enduring flame, ready to at any moment explode outward, to consume all in it's path. Good looking as she was, Tenchi could tell that she was quite possibly the most dangerous woman he had ever met. Also, he thought to himself, the most dangerous that had ever made any semblance of a pass at the wiry, insecure boy. Tenchi counted the money swiftly, then handed her the key to a room of appropriate size to the money she had paid. Ryoko pocketed the key, then ordered another drink. ******************************************************************************** How 'dyou like it? Send any criticism or whatever to Azhrei701@hotmail.com This was origionally a single part story, but I cut it up for, to put it mildly, easy digestion. May you read Without Need, -Jeremy "Kraken" Acord